Shadowchasers: Tournament of Shadows
by Cyber Commander
Summary: In the place where Duel Monsters got its start, a tournament like none other has begun... And the Shadowchasers are right in the middle of it! Old favorites, fresh faces, and a few new surprises. A joint fic by Cyber Commander, Lux-Nero, and MultiplePersonas!
1. A Feint Plan

_Greetings._

_As you may know, what you are reading is not solely my work. It is a joint project by me and two other authors. It has not been easy to reach this point, and I do not expect the rest to be easy either, and I certainly cannot promise updates as fast as my ordinary fics, but the three of us are committed to seeing this project through._

_Before we begin: Duels in this fic will use the March 2012 format. _

_And with that said, let's begin. I believe we have kept people waiting long enough._

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_**Alfred Hitchcock once said - "In the old days, villains had moustaches and kicked the dog. Audiences are smarter today. They don't want their villain to be thrown at them with green limelight on his face. They want an ordinary human being with failings."**_

_**And while that is certainly a staple in writing a villain, it also displays that you can never tell if the next person you meet is on the side of good or the side of evil – Everyone's got their reasons for their actions, everyone's got their own views of what's good and evil, and the line between the two is never as solid as people make it out to be.**_

_**That line blurs even further among the Shadowchasers – You can't help but think that any Shadowkind whose race has been stained with trouble will be a part of that trouble. **_

_**However the same thing can be said about Shadowchasers themselves – We're seen as oppressors by a number of Shadowkind, Jalal is seen as a tyrant, and tensions in between the Shadowchasers and Shadowkind grows worse with each incident. **_

_**So, I can understand why Jalal would accept this sort of idea in order to make the Shadowchasers gain a little positive rep. **_

_**But still… Something doesn't seem right…**_

_**Meh, maybe being a Shadowchaser has made me paranoid…**_

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**SHADOWCHASERS**

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**Tournament of Shadows**

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**A joint fanfic**

**By Cyber Commander,**

**Lux-Nero,**

**And MultiplePersonas**

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**DRAW ONE**

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**A Feint Plan**

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Paris, 11:50 AM, local time. It was May 1st, a warm, spring day.

Le Jules Verne, the restaurant on the second level of the Eiffel Tower, was understandably one of the best places to eat in the city, and one of the most expensive. And the view it gave of the city was phenomenal.

Sitting at one of the best tables was a man who looked about forty-years old. He had neatly-trimmed back hair, a goatee, wore a custom-made Italian suit and shoes, and wore a watch that, if not a Rolex, was of the same quality.

He looked at the watch. He was more than certain that the man he invited would be here on time…

Then he grinned as he saw the man in question approach the table.

The "man in question" was a handsome man with long, blonde hair, sharp features, and clothes that, while just as expensive-looking as the man at the table, seemed far more old-fashioned.

"Ah, Mr. Stormbringer…" said the first man. "Do have a seat…"

The leader of the Shadowchasers sat down. It was obvious that he did not want to be here.

"Champagne?" said the first man, picking up a bottle, next to him. "Feel free to order whatever you wish when the waiter comes by… After all…"

He chuckled.

"…it's deductible!"

"I didn't come here for jokes, Jean-Claude," said Jalal. "Come to think of it, if it had been anyone except you, I might not have come at all. Your proposal seriously rubbed me the wrong way…

"I'll tell you right now… My men are not in the business of putting on a horse and pony show for the entertainment of your viewers…"

"I can appreciate your concerns, Jalal," said Jean-Claude, as he poured the wine into a glass. "But let me give you the facts…

"You're a powerful, rich, and influential man… You run an organization that keeps the peace between humans and Shadowkind. I'd personally say you're doing an excellent job…

"But… Not everyone thinks so…

"Take it from someone who knows how these things work, Jalal, people tend to have selective memories…

"I'm going to give you a name, and I want you to say the first thing that pops into your head when you hear it…

"Richard Nixon."

"Watergate," replied Jalal.

"See? That's what I mean," replied Jean-Claude. "Nixon had a long and complex political career, but he'll forever be remembered for the criminal act that effectively ended it.

"Bad things stick out in people's minds much longer than good things do. And Shadowkind around the world are stuck on a lot of the sore spots in your organization's recent history.

"Take that mess with Vladimir Bloodletter… Nasty business… It was a serious blow to your PR…"

"Don't remind me…" grumbled Jalal.

"Now, I'm a powerful, rich, and influential man too," continued Jean-Claude, "but in a different way. I control the Shadow-exclusive media.

"When an elf sits down to watch the evening news, he usually turns to one of my networks. A hobgoblin goes out to get a newspaper, he picks up one of mine.

"We live in the Information Age, Jalal, and like it or not, Shadowkind tend to get their information from me.

"You see this as a 'horse and pony show', but I see it as a way to give your organization's reputation a _serious _shot in the arm… My people are already predicting viewership that might come close to last year's Superbowl.

"Besides, it's for a worthy cause, Jalal…

"Check that… With one-hundred participants, it will be for a hundred worthy causes."

Jalal sighed.

Pride tasted terrible. He knew because he was swallowing it.

Still, this guy had a valid point…

**0000000000**

A few days later…

Neo Domino City. Six PM, local time.

It was a quiet evening in the Tops. In front of a familiar townhouse, a young woman with short, red hair sat on a bench, looking at the sky.

The door opened and a young man poked his head out.

"Ember?" he said. "Boris said dinner will be ready in ten… He made mandarin chicken…"

"I'll be there in a minute, Shichiro…" replied Ember.

She took a deep breath as he went back inside. She picked up a Duel Disk, and then opened the chamber that held the Extra Deck.

She took out a card, a card depicting a female Monster with a muscular frame, bronze, metallic skin, and flaming hair. She looked at the card, and then looked at the sky again.

"She's not coming back, Ember," said Shichiro's voice.

Ember sighed again as he walked back outside.

"I know you miss her…" he said. "We miss them all… But they don't have time to come back to visit…"

"We shared a bond, Shichiro," said Ember. "Jetta was like a big sister to me…"

"We were all close to them," said Shichiro. "And I'm sure they miss us too… But compare their situation to ours…

"There are about five-hundred Shadowchasers worldwide, and we only protect one world. The Primordial Titans have to be the peacekeepers in an entire galaxy, and as powerful as they are, there are only four of them.

"Even if we could invite them over for dinner, they'd likely be too busy to make an intergalactic trip in order to come.

"The more you dwell on it, the more depressed you'll be. So let's eat, okay?"

Ember put the card back, and walked inside.

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Chicago. Eleven AM, local time.

In the squalid slum that was once called South Deering, but was now called the Hive, a young African-American woman, her arms notably muscular, got off a bus, a knapsack slung over her arm.

Three young toughs watched from a corner. Two of them chuckled in anticipation as they watched her.

Then the third, who was much bigger than they were, slammed his hands down on their shoulders. They turned to him, and he shook his head.

Then they looked at the young woman, and realized what he meant…

The members of St. Cuthbert's House were off-limits… That was an unwritten rule that all the riff-raff of the inner city followed.

St. Cuthbert's House, which was Nichole's destination, was part of an organization that had grown in the past few years under the leadership of Donovan "Donny" Lewison, a former thug who claimed to have been saved from death by the Shadowkind deity St. Cuthbert. Each House was a combination of a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, free clinic, and neighborhood watch, providing a beacon of hope in places where there otherwise was none.

A few hours after arriving, the place opened for business, and Nichole and some other volunteers were behind the counter, ready to serve the customers with a smile.

"Do my eyes deceive me," said one of the men in line, "or are those burritos?"

"Yep," said Nichole. "We got all the leftovers from the big Cinco de Mayo festival. We have burritos, tacos, tamales, quesadillas…

"We have plenty, so help yourself…"

"I have a feeling this place is going to be popular today," said Rosa, the cook, who was serving next to her.

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Seoul, South Korea, 3:30 PM.

In the suburbs of the rather large city, a small orphanage stood among several residential areas.

The children, most of them age eight to eleven, sat in the small playground out front as a nurse watched them. They were waiting for someone. The nurse was a little nervous. Part of her wanted this person to show up, while the other part was a little concerned about it…

Then a sleek, black D-Wheel drove up, and the kids lit up.

"GOMI!" they shouted.

They rushed the rider as he pulled to a stop, and took off his helmet. He was a young man, with short, full hair, wearing a leather jacket and matching trousers. He was a Shadowchaser, but that wasn't evident to anyone here.

"Kids, let me get off my bike first!" he said with a laugh.

"Did you bring them Gomi?" asked a girl.

Gomi held up several sacks of hamburgers that he had brought from a fast food place.

"Sure I did!" he exclaimed.

The children cheered as he started to hand them out. There was one for each of them.

After he did, the nurse motioned to him, and took him aside.

"Gomi, I'd really rather you bring them gifts that aren't edible," she said.

"Oh, come on…" said Gomi. "It's not like they're gonna get fat on you.

"Let them have it once in a while… They don't have much as it is…"

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Las Vegas, Nevada, 2:30 p.m.

The Las Vegas Strip was busy as usual, with locals and tourists filling the sidewalks and flooding the shops and restaurants all around. One such restaurant was the Mirage Oasis, a quaint and calming little café that offered its patrons good music, a chance to get out of the blazing heat and get a decent meal out of it.

Even the owner, a sly looking were-ermine man with long white hair and dressed in a white kimono and black hakama that hung off of his thin figure, was enjoying himself as he played with his long white hair (complete with blonde highlights) while he leaned against the bar's counter. This was Kyon Rokudai, a rather unique Shadowkind, a former pro duelist turned businessman.

A few years ago, Kyon got involved with some business with the Shadowchasers, and had been aiding the local Shadowchasers in any way he could. He wasn't a man who did something for nothing though, he had a reason to get involved with Shadowchasers and that reason was…

"KYON!"

The were-ermine smiled brightly as from the backroom emerged his reason – A young, brash woman whom was a part of the Shadowchasers: Alice, or as she liked to refer to herself as Ace. She was a younger Shadowchaser, but managed to get a couple of years of experience on her back – But she still looked almost the same as she did the first day that Kyon laid eyes on her…

Sandy blonde hair that brushed the shoulders of her baggy white jacket that was a few sizes too big for her, a black shirt and black jeans that hugged her slim, yet slightly muscular figure – Something that Kyon always enjoyed leering at. "My, my, my – What's with all the yelling, my Dear Alice?"

"Don't act like that you perverted little weasel!" Ace hissed under her breath as she stomped up to the were-ermine. "I saw that little costume that you picked out! There's no way in hell I'm wearing a Chinese dress!"

"Actually, it's called a Cheongsam," Kyon said with lackluster.

"I don't care if you called it Davidson!" Ace snarled under her breath. "When I agreed to help cover a shift to help you out, you never mentioned that I'd have to wear something like that!"

"What's the problem?" Kyon retorted, not bothering to look at Ace. "Madame Faye wears something like that all the time – Even when she's on the job mind you…"

"Yeah, but that's only because she wears bike shorts under it," Ace muttered under her breath. "I don't feel like showing anyone that much leg…"

Kyon finally turned towards Ace and looked her up and down a few times, "… Perhaps you're right, you don't really have a figure to pull off that dress…"

If she wasn't dedicated to protecting the peace involving Shadowkind, Ace would've decked Kyon square in the nose right then.

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Berlin, Germany…

It was a quiet evening in the capital of Germany, as quiet as a city of three and a half million people could get. But regardless, it was a humble little evening…

At least for the normal people in the city.

In the basement of one of the townhouses, flashes of colorful light and electrical energy surged through the windows, drawing a crowd of people outside of the building. In the basement itself, a man sighed to himself as he watched the lights and energy die down. "Hmm…"

The man himself was a muscular one with bronze skin and black hair (save for a single streak of white hair on the right side of his head) with a pair of glasses in front of his eyes. His clothes were covered with soot, dirt, and various burn marks that were obviously made from the sources of lights and energy that just died down.

The man sighed loudly as he looked at the floor – The large amount of soot that covered what appeared to be an extravagantly drawn circle with many runes etched into the floor – and in the center of the circle was what the man was sighing at, a bunch of parts that looked like they belonged to an old radio, only burnt. "That was a bust… I still need to get that right without the whole light show and with my clothes catching on fire.

"Yeah, not your greatest moment Leroy…"

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Munich, Germany…

It wasn't such a quiet evening in this part of Germany when Bruno von Klein opened the door to _his _team's townhouse after a long train ride back from Warsaw—as soon as he poked his head through the door, he was met with a loud snide comment.

"Another wild goose chase?" asked Rebecca Schafer, who was supposed to be his girlfriend but had been growing distant for weeks. Apparently, she had stayed up late just to sit in the kitchen and wait for this very opportunity.

"Not this time," Bruno chortled. It was different from his usual, cheerful laugh—Rebecca hadn't heard _that _in quite a while. This one was powerful, confident, and not very friendly, and, despite the smile on his face (that was almost always there, no matter how he really felt), it made him look arrogant, from his dark brown curly hair to the soles of his shoes.

He pulled his deck out of his pocket, pulled off the top card, and showed it to her.

"Oh, so you finally found that Shadow Spawn," Rebecca sighed. "Dare I ask if that means things can get back to normal around here?"

"Hardly," Bruno responded. "I can't stop now. I need to test this baby out."

As he went off to bed, Rebecca tried to vent her frustration by wildly shaking her head, sending her long blonde locks—and her trademark triangular glasses—flying.

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When you belonged to both St. Cuthbert's House and the Shadowchasers, as Nichole did, life was more hectic than normal.

At six PM, she walked into the penthouse, to the sound of baseball. Three people were on the couch watching: Dugan, the senior member of the team, Francis, Dugan's new apprentice who had replaced Karl, and Bartholomew, the brownie who was their housekeeper.

"All right!" shouted Francis. "Two-out rally!"

"Wasn't this last night's game?" asked Nichole.

"We had to work last night," said Francis. "We recorded it."

"Isn't it silly to get so worked up over a game that you already know the outcome of?" asked Nichole.

Bartholomew chuckled.

"This from a woman who always cries at the end of _Gone with the Wind!" _he laughed.

"Touché…" sighed Nichole.

Then the ever-burning fireplace to the side of them started to burn more intensely.

"Uh-oh…" said Dugan, as he put the TV on pause.

A holographic image of Jalal appeared, sitting at his desk.

"Hello everyone," he said, in a tired voice. "Don't bother to stand up if you're sitting down… This is a recorded message meant for all members of the organization, and there's no rush for it to be heard…

"Anyway… As you all know, our reputation of late hasn't been the best… In a move that my PR men have told me will be a boon, I have made an agreement with Jean-Claude Martin, the President and CEO of Lessiux Media Unlimited."

The three of them knew what that meant… Lessiux was a company that included many media outlets that only Shadowkind had access to.

"You may have heard of the Duelist Kingdom Tournament, held many years ago," continued Jalal. "Well, I2 recently put the island where it was held up for auction, and Lessiux bought it. Even the castle is still there, and they've spent the last few months renovating the place.

"Now Jean-Claude wants to hold another tournament there… One with the Shadowchasers competing.

"You heard me right people… He plans to hold a Duel Monsters tournament on this island, and televise the duels globally. The duelists involved will, according to plan, be fifty Shadowchasers and fifty duelists from the Pro Leagues that his company sponsors. He has assured me that it will improve our image in the eyes of Shadowkind immensely, especially if a Shadowchaser is the winner.

"Now, he naturally doesn't expect you to do this for nothing. If you apply, and your application is chosen, you will be doing this for the charity of your choice. Jean-Claude has promised two-thousand Euros minimum for the charities of anyone who enters, while the winner has a chance of making as much as a million.

"I'd like to say privately that this was not my idea initially, but I have to agree, it will boost our PR a great deal, and it's at an all-time low as it is.

"Applications will come in the mail tomorrow. I will select the participants, and try to get a diverse group.

"I am by no means mandating this… But I am encouraging it…

"Thank you…"

He vanished.

"A tournament?" said Dugan. "Our PR must _really _be low…"

Nichole looked at the fireplace.

"I'm gonna do it…" she said.

Everyone looked at her.

"Nichole…" said Bartholomew.

"Hey," said Nichole, "St. Cuthbert's House has to depend on charity, you know? And we aren't as well-known as the Red Cross! What's the going rate of the Euro these days?"

"I think about… a buck-fifty…" said Dugan.

"Even if I get wiped out…" said Nichole. "The House could do a lot with three grand…"

Dugan stood up and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Then we can at least support you," he said.

"And we'll be sure to watch it too!" exclaimed Francis.

Nichole took her deck out of the holder on her belt, and looked at her Amazoness Warriors.

_Hope you ladies are ready for the place where Duel Monsters practically got its start… _she thought.

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The next morning, the Munich Shadowchasers got the same message, and Bruno jumped out of his chair.

"Oh, you're not," Rebecca sighed. Their teammates, Franz and Lars, as well as their djinni housekeeper, Giondar, all silently shook their heads.

"Of course I'm entering!" Bruno exclaimed. "This is just the chance I've been waiting for! I can finally get some excitement—a proper challenge!"

Just like that, Rebecca got up and walked out of the room.

"And where are _you _going at this hour in the morning?" Giondar asked.

"To my grandparents'," she replied as she left.

Bruno showed no surprise or concern at this, merely taking out his deck and looking at its newest addition, which stared back at him with big, heavy-lidded eyes.

_Let her leave_, he thought to himself with a smile. _I still have you, and we're going to take that tournament by storm._

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_**Next:**_

_**Ember: I'm on a ship, and it's heading for an island far away… To the place where, years ago, Yugi Mouto and Katsuya Jonouchi got their starts…**_

_**Forty-nine other Shadowchasers – fifty, if you count the boss – will be there… Seems pretty secure, wouldn't you think… Trouble is, I don't know anyone here…**_

_**But… Someone I just met… He seems friendly enough…**_

"_**The Paths of Destiny" is coming soon. **_


	2. The Paths of Destiny

_**One island…**_

_**One champion…**_

_**Two sides…**_

_**Forty cards…**_

_**One hundred duelists!**_

_**The numbers don't lie, this aims to be one of the greatest battles of all time! And we go back to where everything having to do with Duel Monsters history began, where the King of Games faced off against the very creator of this game. Numerous years have passed since that fateful tournament and once again, these holy grounds to Duel Monsters see another battle of the card-stock.**_

_**Shadowchasers…**_

_**Blue Knights…**_

_**To all who participate, prepare yourselves – Physically and mentally, these battles which you are about to participate in will be some of the hardest! Pros of the league and pros of the streets… Clashing against one another, for their glory and for the charity they believe in…**_

_**Now that's what I call prime time television!**_

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**DRAW TWO**

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**The Paths of Destiny**

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With one thing and another, May went by. On the second day of June in Neo Domino, it seemed like any other day.

The Neo Domino Shadowchasers had a housekeeper named Boris, and he was, for lack of a better term, weird. He was a floating skull who could levitate gloves and use them for hands. They weren't exactly sure what he was (he had once told them that he was the Head of Vecna, but he was likely joking). Still, he knew over three-hundred recipes, so they didn't dwell on it.

Right now, he was grilling something on a pan on the stove, which was filling the kitchen with smoke.

A young woman rushed into the kitchen, one a little older than Ember, with long, blonde hair, a leather jacket over a halter top, and jeans.

"What is that _smell_?" she demanded. "Don't tell me you're frying _unagi _again!"

"Calm down, Jinx," said Boris. "Everything is under control…"

Jinx sighed, and walked back into the living room, where Shichiro and Ember were sitting on the couch watching the news.

"He says he has everything under control," she said. "Better get the number for takeout handy, just in case…"

Then the fourth member of the team walked in, an older, muscular man wearing a plaid shirt and battered jeans, both of which were stained with axel grease.

"Mail call, people," he said. "Here, Ember, you got a package."

"Uh, thanks Gears…" said Ember, as she took the large parcel.

She looked at it curiously. It was first class air mail, and had a cover letter taped to it.

She recognized the return address. It was a dummy corporation that Jalal used whenever he wanted to send important things to Shadowchasers through the mail.

She carefully opened the letter.

"What does it say?" asked Jinx, who was getting just as excited as Ember.

"Dear Ms. Eiko," she said, reading. "I am pleased to announce that your application to compete in the new Duelist Kingdom Tournament has been met with acceptance."

She paused for a minute to hold her chest. Her heart was beating fast. Then she continued reading.

"Enclosed in the package is a ticket for the ship that is leaving from Tokyo that will take you and roughly half the other contestants to the tournament location at midnight, right before the morning of June 18th. For any travel and lodging expenses required to get to Tokyo on that date, simply charge it to the bank card you have been provided with.

"For the trip, you will need the following: Your Duel Disk, your deck (which you must make certain is tournament legal), and few changes of clothes. You need not bring food, toiletries, or other supplies. Your sword or other Shadowchasers-issued equipment is optional. I would suggest a knapsack or duffel bag to carry anything you bring.

"Feel free to bring an iPad or laptop if you desire. There is WiFi and internet connection on Duelist Kingdom.

"On another note, Dragonprince Jalal is not permitted for this tournament, so if your Extra Deck contains fifteen cards, use the time you have to find a replacement. Still, bringing it along as a spare card in case of an emergency might be advisable.

"The package also contains a few things that you will need for the tournament proper. The one thing I'll explain now is the universal translator that I've included in case your group has not yet been provided with one. This tournament will consist of duelists from all over the world, and as you might expect, not everyone will speak the same language. These devices will take care of that problem

"The other items will be explained later, and I trust you not to lose them. The actual rules for the tournament will be explained by Mr. Martin and myself when everyone arrives.

"For now, all I can say is good luck, and may the best contestant win."

Jalal's signature was at the bottom.

Jinx grabbed Ember and gave her a hug.

"Congratulations, Ember!" she explained.

"We're all proud of you," said Shichiro. "And I'm sure that the Hands of Sadako will appreciate this."

Ember nodded. She had found out about the Hands of Sadako while visiting Hiroshima just last year. The organization was devoted to, quite simply, peace.

Sadako Sasaki was a child who, in Japan, was a symbol of innocent victims of war. She had been eleven years old when the atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, and had been about a mile from Ground Zero.

She survived the initial blast, but developed terminal cancer from the radiation, and doctors at the hospital gave her only a year to live. She spent the year devoted to one goal: attempting to create one-thousand origami cranes, motivated by an old legend that the gods would grant a wish to whoever succeeded in this task.

Did she believe that her wish for a cure would be granted? Maybe, maybe not. But it gave her something she wouldn't have otherwise had: a purpose.

The problem was, while she had plenty of free time, she lacked paper. She used medicine wrappings, asked other patients for the envelopes from their get-well cards… Used anything she could find. A friend of hers searched everywhere for it, and brought her what he had. In the end, she only completed 644 before dying… But her friends finished the job, and all one-thousand of the paper cranes were laid in her grave.

Hiroshima's anti-war and pro-peace stances were well-known, but the Hands of Sadako took a very active role in letting the message be heard. And if Ember could help, all the better… After all, peace among the sentient races was the goal of the Shadowchasers.

Ember carefully opened the package.

Inside were a few objects. The first was the universal translator, a small item that looked like a clip-on microphone. The Shadowchasers had invented these devices, and used them to communicate with Shadowkind when language was an issue. This most recent model simply clipped to the user's shirt collar.

Another item in the package was a fanny-pack. She opened it, and found several plastic bank rolls. Two of them contained what appeared to be poker chips. She put them back, figuring she'd find out about them later.

There was a map of an island – Duelist Kingdom, she assumed – with all the proper features of a map: a compass rose, a scale, and icons on it, but no key to explain them.

There was also an odd device that she didn't know the purpose of. It looked like half of a pair of high-tech glasses, with a green, triangular lens, a silvery frame, and an earpiece the same style as the frame.

As she looked at it, she remembered an odd question on the application asking if she wore corrective lenses… She had wondered what that had to do with the tournament, and wondered if this was the reason.

She carefully put everything back in the parcel, and took a deep breath.

_June 18__th__? _she thought. _Better start getting ready…_

**TTTTTTT**

It was a rather quiet night in the Mirage Oasis – Mainly because Kyon had closed the place up early to have a rather delightful evening to himself. With the radio set to his favorite Jazz station, a glass of fruit punch at the counter, and a good book wrapped in his fingers, the were-ermine was rather content with himself.

Not many people knew this, but Kyon rarely left the café at night – Mostly due to the fact that he had a lot of work to fill out and it usually ate up his evenings, but also for the fact that he practically lived in the café's second floor. When he had purchased the building years ago, it was actually an older two-storied shop that was going out of business… How he got sleep while being in Vegas was his little secret.

And after some time, the were-ermine managed to make it into a success. Heck, half of the Shadowkind in the city of sin were known to be patrons to the place (it helped that Kyon did offer some discounts to them) and then it was enough to keep the lights on and to pay the waitresses.

But that's beside the point.

The point right now is that Kyon was relaxing in his business with a book. Although, when he closed the book, he sighed and tossed it atop one of the many tables in the room. His face twisted slightly, getting away from his usual childish grin to a look of pure concern. '_I don't know how I'm going to tell her this… And I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this either but…'_

Kyon's thoughts were instantly gone when he hear pounding on the glass and his attention was drawn to one of the windows. For a moment, Kyon's eyes widened when he saw Ace standing in front of his café with a large brown, package held over her head. Gesturing towards the door with her head, Kyon's smirk reappeared as he quickly went to the door and opened it, "My lovely Alice! What a pleasant surprise! I didn't expect to see you… Oh! Have you finally decided that you'll run away with me in sinful love and…"

The were-ermine had to stop his delusions just as Ace threw a powerful kick through the air, but Kyon simply dipped down to dodge the attack, "Or not… Oh well, maybe next time."

"Can you please stop with your delusions of love for ten minutes?" Ace growled as she walked into the café, a small streak of red on her cheeks. "I came here to ask for a serious favor from you…"

"Oooh, what kind of favor?" Kyon asked, closing the door with his tail.

"Look, you said you were a former pro duelist right?" Ace asked.

Kyon was a little crestfallen, but he nodded none the less.

"Good, well," Ace explained as she held up the package, revealing the contents inside. "I got accepted in that tournament Jalal's co-sponsoring, and I have a feeling that I'm gonna need all the help I can get to make it to the top… There's someone I have to face off against who I know will be there…"

"This wouldn't have to be because of a certain little fire spark, would it?" Kyon questioned.

Ace didn't answer, and that was all Kyon needed to see in order to confirm his suspicions. Kyon and all of the Shadowchasers who were a part of the Las Vegas team knew about Ace's little grudge against a fellow Shadowchaser… But everyone who knew about the grudge was a hundred percent sure that it was one-sided (heck the person Ace had a grudge against practically lived on the other side of the world!).

But, the were-ermine didn't care, Ace was the woman he loved and with a bow he smirked, "You don't need to say anything, my lovely Alice! I, your humble friend (lover), will do all that I can in order to help you…"

Immediately, Ace's face lit up and she smiled greatly, "That's awesome! I'll need help with my deck, some tips on tournaments and…"

"But…" Kyon continued as he stood up straight. "There are three conditions that must be met before I help you…"

"What?" Ace questioned flatly, a little afraid of what the were-ermine was going to demand.

"One, you will follow my instructions in your deck list to a T," Kyon counted off as he held out his hand. "Two, if you're unable to complete your grudge against the little fire spark, then you must give up on the grudge. And three… And this one is most important…

"… You have to ask your request in an uber cute way!"

Ace's glare could kill…

**TTTTTTTTTTT**

Time went by just as quickly for the Shadowchasers in Munich – well, for Bruno, at least. He had been taking the night shifts, apprehending Shadowkind criminals during the witching hour (sometimes literally), and had been changing in a few other ways, as well. Instead of his usual casual clothes, he had taken to wearing suits, and his smiles were hardly ever sincere anymore. Others had picked up on these changes, and were beginning to speak up.

"The children's hospital called again, Bruno," Franz reported as Bruno sat down to breakfast. "They want to know when you'll go back to volunteering."

"Hopefully not too soon," Lars sighed. "I'd hate to see a smile like _that _on a clown."

"Hey, I need to practice," Bruno explained. "I need to do all I can if I'm going to win that tournament and hand the hospital that million-euro check."

"Yeah," Franz said. "_That's _why you're doing it."

Bruno rolled his eyes, and in doing so, looked around. "Hey," he asked. "Where's Rebecca?"

"At her grandparents'," Lars reported, taking a bite of sausage. "Where else?"

"Seems like I haven't seen her in days…"

"Not too good at putting two and two together, are we?" Giondar laughed. "Anyway, you got a package. I think it's about the tournament."

He handed Bruno the package and letter, and Bruno tore into it. It was, of course, identical to Ember's, except his name was in place of hers, and it told him to go to a ship leaving from Los Angeles, California.

"Excellent," Bruno chuckled. "I qualified. The tournament's in two weeks—you sure you can handle things here without me?"

"Things will probably be more peaceful here than they have been in weeks…" Franz muttered.

"What was that?" Bruno snapped.

"Have fun!"

**TTTTTTT**

Meanwhile, in another part of Germany…

It had been hell to explain to his current landlord where the smoke and explosion came from, but it was worth the trouble for Leroy to go through with his alchemic experiments. It was a little bit since Leroy had heard the message that Jalal had sent out, and already he was looking over the possibilities…

In his mind, it would be a good chance to sharpen his dueling skills (he wasn't that great of a duelist when he joined the Shadowchasers, and his skills didn't get much better as time went on) and to meet some of his fellow colleagues…

But ever since he sent his request to join, the dark haired man was essentially contemplating whether or not he did the right thing. With his luck, he'd probably not qualify for the tournament and he'd be stuck with his duties as a roaming Shadowchaser, it wasn't bad per-say but…

WHAM!

Leroy's eyes widened when he realized that the door to his borrowed room slammed open and there stood in the doorway was none other than the landlady who was kind enough to give him a room… Well, she wasn't looking all that kind at the moment (would you be kind to a person who set off an explosion in your basement? I don't think so!) as she leered those sharp eyes right at Leroy, making the larger man tremble slightly. "Swartz! Are you done with the cleaning and repairs yet?"

"Uh, almost!" Leroy yelped as he bowed his head slightly. Truth be told, with his skills in alchemy, the repairs were rather easy. It was just a matter of cleaning up afterwards. "I'm s-sorry that I blew up your basement… again…"

"Humph, if I didn't get that wealthy sum from your employer," The landlady grumbled under her breath before she trailed off. "I wouldn't let any of you Shadowchasers stay here… Anyway, you got a package Swartz, just try to make sure that you don't let it explode either."

As the landlady pushed the package into the room with her foot, Leroy lowered his head even further. "Yes ma'am…"

And with a final slam of the door, Leroy flinched. He waited a few seconds before he walked over the package and eyed the address…

It was from the main base. He had been accepted!

"Oh… Joy," Leroy muttered, not knowing how to react to this news.

**0000000000**

The next sixteen days had been business as usual for the Neo Domino Shadowchasers. In Ember's case, she went head to head with a true ghoul Deathpriest of Orcus, a tulgar berserker, and a nightwalker (she had Jinx's help with that last one).

Basically, the usual.

Getting to Tokyo the night before the big day had been easy, and finding a hotel was even easier. She got to the designated pier well before midnight.

Quiet a crowd had gathered, and as the letter had said, there seemed to be about fifty people (some human, many Shadowkind) waiting to board the ship, a far-more modern one than the craft that had taken Yugi Muto and his entourage to the island all those decades ago. Eventually, she heard someone mention that a second ship was leaving from Los Angeles, possibly to make things more convenient for contestants from the other side of the world.

Looking around, she could tell who here were Shadowchasers, at least when she looked them in the face. They had the same mark that she had. Still, she didn't see anyone she knew.

She felt nervous as she walked up and checked her ticket.

"Enjoy your trip," said the man, as he punched it, and moved aside. "No dueling allowed while on the ship… Save all your energy for the tournament."

Ember sighed, and walked up the gangplank, towards the deck. As she did so, she clipped the translator onto her collar, and turned it on.

It was clear to Ember that this ship may well be faster than the one that the King of Games had used, but the amenities were only slightly better. She didn't exactly expect a buffet or live entertainment, but there were some vending machines and plenty of deck chairs. Several of the guests (who were clearly Pros) were engaged in trading sessions.

"I dunno…" said one of them, looking at a card that another was offering. "I never trusted Xyzs…"

"I'm sure people said that about Synchros when they first came out, pal," said the other one. "This one fits your deck like a glove."

Ember sighed. She realized that she had forgotten to bring Dramamine, and wondered if there was anyone who she could get any from…

"Excuse me…" said a voice. "Eiko Michiko, right?"

Ember turned around. It was Gomi.

"Uh, yeah…" she said. "And you are?"

"Oh, man…" said Gomi. "This is an honor… I've studied your career since I started in the Shadowchasers…"

"Uh, I haven't been in the group _that_ long…" said Ember.

"I'm Gomi," he said. "Masaharu Gomi…"

Ember lifted an eyebrow…

"Wait a minute…" she said. "The guy in South Korea? The guy who fended off a horde of gibberlings six months ago that some insane derro wizard summoned?"

Gomi blushed.

"It wasn't anything big…" he said.

"Like Hell!" said Ember. "I've heard of gibberlings… When a wizard summons a horde of them, he just has to point in the direction of the city that he wants to destroy, and they charge at it, killing and devouring everything in their path, with no regard for their safety."

"Well, I simply knew their weakness," said Gomi.

He sat down.

"Gibberlings are deathly afraid of light. The guy thought that if he caused a blackout in Seoul, and attacked at night, he'd be fine.

"But I got word of his plan. I called in a favor to the fire department, and borrowed some of those special trucks with high-powered spotlights. Then I had some people drive them to the edge of town where the horde was about to attack.

"It was a simple matter of flicking a switch. Those ugly things couldn't turn tail fast enough.

"But was small potatoes compared to what you did. I mean, if I was up against the spawn of Athentia, I'd probably be too scared to move!"

"Excuse me," said another voice, "did you say your name was Eiko Michiko?"

Ember turned around. The voice belonged to a short, shifty-looking man with glasses.

"Yeah, that's my name," said Ember.

"The same Eiko Michiko who defeated Mukuro Enjo?" asked the man.

"Uh, yeah, I think I dueled him once…" replied Ember.

The man glared at her.

"Humph…" he said. "I don't see it…"

"Who the Hell are you?" asked Ember.

"He's Insector Hakata," said Gomi, with a sigh. "When Enjo was the Champion of the Riding Duels, this guy was one of his opponents."

"If Enjo lost to you," said Hakata, with a sneer, "he must have really let himself go. You can't be more than ninety pounds soaking wet!"

"You want to step a little closer and say that?" replied Ember.

"Hakata, knock it off!" said yet another voice.

Another duelist rushed up to them, a man wearing jeans and a khaki jacket.

"You're going to get in trouble one of these days, do you know that?"

He turned to Ember.

"You have to excuse my associate here…" he said. "He sometimes forgets that this is going to be a charity tournament."

He extended his hand.

"Hey, 'Dinosaur' Hakozaki is the name."

Ember took his hand and shook, as Hakata crossed his arms in a sulk.

"You were one of Enjo's opponents too," said Gomi.

"Yeah…" said Hakozaki. "I was a much better loser than my friend here…"

"May I ask just what your charity is, Hakata?" asked Ember.

"I'll have you know that it's a perfectly respectable one called the Nomura Foundation," replied Hakata. "It's a scientific firm that uses donations to research genetic engineering in agriculture."

"Genetically enhanced vegetables?" said Ember. "You mean 'Frankenfood'?"

"You laugh," said Hakata. "One of these days, a company like this is going to find a way to grow tomatoes the size of pumpkins, and everyone who criticized them will be eating their words.

"But make no mistake, Eiko… I'm in this tournament to win it… And I even have a secret weapon to do it…"

He held up a deck.

"And once I do… Well, Jack Atlas had better watch out!"

"Come on," said Hakozaki. "They'll be plenty of time to duel later… I'll buy you some coffee…"

The pair left and Gomi looked at Ember.

"_**Attention passengers," **_said a voice on a loudspeaker. _**"We are about to depart. Our estimated ETA is five hours, ten minutes."**_

"Uh, you got any Dramamine?" asked Ember.

Gomi smirked, and took a bottle of the medicine out of his pocket.

"I think I'm starting to like you…" said Ember. "Call me Ember, by the way…"

**0000000000**

The second ship, the one leaving from Los Angeles, would take much longer to reach its destination than the one leaving from Tokyo. So it was leaving about six hours earlier. Given the time difference and the International Date Line, that meant it would leave at 2AM, also on June 18th.

Most of the passengers got on much earlier. The guests from Europe and North America were on this ship, and many were planning to take the time to get some shut-eye after long flights from wherever they came from.

Nichole was leaning against the wall on the main deck, not ready to turn in just yet. She had seen mostly what Ember had seen, the big exception being something back at the docks: a crane hoisting a massive crate into the bottom of the ship. She'd asked a dock worker what that was about, but he just cryptically replied that she might find out during the tournament.

She rubbed her side. While walking up the gangplank, a rather full-bodied man, a head shorter than her, with curly brown hair and sleepy eyes had bumped into her and left without a word. Normally she wouldn't have paid it much mind – everyone around here had been rather eager to board the ship – but she got a strange feeling from him. She knew he wasn't a Shadow (in fact, the mark under his eye assured her that he was a Shadowchaser), but that feeling persisted. She had come to trust her instincts over time, and there was something about that man that she didn't like.

She had been trying to distract herself from the experience by scoping out the competition. She recognized a few faces on the ship… The Chicago Pro League duelist Jimmy Fifty was there…

"Nichole Belvins?" shouted a voice.

Nichole turned around, and her eyes flew open in shock. The man who had spoken was a short, stocky Shadowkind, with skin the color and texture of brass, with fiery red hair. He wore a khaki jacket and shorts, and a battered old hat.

He was an azer, a species that may have had some relation to dwarves in the distant past. But while dwarves were creatures of earth and stone, azer had their origins in fire. Azer also tended to be a lot more impulsive than the level-headed dwarves, with much less common sense.

"Sylvester Hothands, is that you?" said Nichole. "I haven't seen you in years… Not since that trip I took to New Mexico…"

"It has been a while…" he replied.

Nichole sighed.

"So you're in the Pros now?" she asked. "I thought you were out looking for El Dorado, or the Holy Grail, or one of those other mythical treasures."

Sylvester chuckled a little.

"Hey, hunting for legendary cities and lost hordes is fun," he said, "but it doesn't always put bread on the table. Indiana Jones taught college classes, you know. That was his 'real job'. Me… I make money nowadays as a Pro Duelist."

"You do realize this is a charity tournament, right?" asked Nichole. "You don't get to keep the money you make here. Dare I ask what your charity is?"

"The Swiss Gnome Conjecture," replied Sylvester.

"Oh, Sylvester…" said Nichole, covering her eyes with her hand.

The SGC, an organization working out of Zurich headed by gnomes, was proof that just because a group was non-profit, it wasn't necessarily useful. They were a consulting service who was much sought-after by some groups for their ability to think 'outside the box'. They worked for anyone; governments, organizations, and the like, but because they were non-profit, most of their customers were other charities, who saw them as an alternative to expensive, big-name consultants.

While they had done some good things, like help establish disaster relief programs in third world countries, a lot of their ideas were sort of farfetched (one of the reasons why they decided to be non-profit), such as their proposed idea for to build parts of the hulls of naval vessels out of ice. (Why not? Ice was cheap, they claimed, it floated, and if you mixed the ice with sawdust, put cooling pipes inside the hulls, and confined the ship itself to cold regions, it would work. Even better, if a ship was damaged, it could be fixed by freezing more water. But the idea never got off the ground, possibly because no-one could find an admiral who wanted to be in charge of a giant ice cube.)

"So, uh…" said Nichole.

She turned around, and her eyes fell on someone who stood out. An attractive young woman dressed in very revealing clothing that suggested Egyptian-style, along with gold jewelry shaped like snakes and scorpions. She had black hair down to her waist, and large, green eyes.

"Who's that?" she asked.

Sylvester's look turned very serious.

"Serket," he replied. "Stay clear of her…

"She's a terror in the Pro Leagues… A merciless, cold, and brutal duelist, with a strategy that can often finish off an opponent in a single turn…"

"What strategy is that?" asked Nichole, in shock.

Sylvester sighed.

"As a Pro Duelist myself, I can't betray the specific strategy of another Pro," he replied, "especially to someone who might be her opponent. That's kinda an unwritten rule in the Pro League.

"But trust me… You don't want to duel her.

"See you around, Nichole… Who knows, maybe we'll meet each other before this is over."

He smirked, and then walked off. Nichole turned again, but Serket had left.

Meanwhile, on the back deck, Ace watched as the ship was going through the waves, adjusting the backpack she had on her shoulder. No matter what brave face she put on, she had to admit that she was nervous and that she couldn't sleep… Not because of the tournament, but because she wasn't a fan of boats (something that she could never admit to her co-workers).

Ace was all set for the tournament – Kyon's training and deck structuring made her completely sure of herself, that she'd be able to go far into this tournament, possibly to reach her goal!

Her nervousness and anticipation were what drove her to stay awake – Ace knew she had to sleep, but…

"The sea is rather intoxicating at night, isn't it?" A surprisingly deep voice called out to Ace, making the young Shadowchaser jump slightly.

Walking on the back deck was a rather daunting, gruff older man dressed in a long red-denim overcoat that had some rather unique, and frilly looking clothes that looked like they belonged to the age of pirates. The man's long messy blonde hair was covered at the top with a deep blue bandana and around his neck was a weird golden pendant. The rugged man walked up alongside Ace and looked at the sea. "Especially on the night before a battle, it's almost as if the fates themselves are giving us one last look at beauty before we commence with the bloodshed…

"… Except with a children's card game…"

Ace just looked at the rugged man as he spouted off some sea themed poetic justice, she knew she saw this guy before… But she couldn't put her finger on it…

"Well, yeah, that's nice," Ace stated as she walked away from the weird pirate dressed man…

**0000000000**

Bruno probably should have apologized to that girl he barged past, but he _was_ in a terrible hurry to get to his bed. It had been a long flight from Munich to Los Angeles, and he'd always had problems with jet lag. It was all he could do to stay awake until he reached his room on the ship. He didn't even put on his pajamas—he just stripped down to his boxers and got under the covers, then fell asleep immediately.

**0000000000**

_It was that dream again. Bruno had been having it for months. He was on a dark street in Munich, dueling a cocky Shadow dressed all in black, with ashy grey skin, an elaborate tattoo of the constellation Heracles on the left half of his face, and about twenty piercings on the right. He had white-grey hair as thick as worms, entirely-black eyes, and there was an X-shaped scar on his chin. _

_The shadar-kai laughed and conjured a massive red Fiend, then attacked and obliterated the last of Bruno's Life Points, then dashed away. Bruno gave chase, but the Shadow was too fast, and was soon out of sight. _

_It was at this point in the dream, every single time, that Bruno noticed that the color was fading from the world around him. Everything was turning a dull shade of grey, from the buildings and signs to the people on the street._

_He kept running, and came upon his teammates – tall and imposing Franz, muscular and brutal-faced Lars, and his beloved Rebecca, whose triangular glasses and purple pantsuit made her look like a schoolteacher of some sort. Before Bruno could greet them, though, they turned grey, too, and then their expressions hardened – literally. They turned to stone before his eyes. He looked around, and all of the people on the street had become statues. Even Jalal, who was here for no reason at all, had turned to stone._

_Bruno looked down, and he could see his own feet turning to stone, and the process was swiftly going up his legs. Before it could get there, though, a teenaged girl appeared in front of him. She was coldly beautiful, with flowing white hair, and dressed in the Gothic Lolita style of clothing. She embraced him sensually, and the petrification receded. He was flesh again, but everything around him remained unchanged. _

_There was no bringing it back._

**0000000000**

Bruno awoke with a start. It had been months and he'd never quite gotten used to that dream. And, like always, ever since he'd gotten it, he took out his new card and looked it over. It was the same girl from his dream. When he'd had that dream before, he'd thought it was a sign to get the card.

He had it now. Why was he still having this dream?

**0000000000**

"_**All ashore that's going ashore!" **_rang the loudspeaker.

As Ember stepped off the ship, she looked in awe at her first view of Duelist Kingdom.

It was all she ever imagined, from the stories she had heard. The castle on the top of the hill dominated the land that was covered by hills, forests, and grassy plains. The morning sun was rising in the east as she stepped down the gangplank.

As everyone on the two ships disembarked, she noticed that the passengers who weren't Shadowchasers had all taken a blue scarf from their sacks and had put them on. Before she could question this, the loudspeaker spoke again.

"_**Follow the stairway to the castle, where briefing will take place," **_it said. _**"No running, please."**_

_Here we go… _thought Ember.

**0000000000**

It truly seemed like a hundred people – at least – had gathered here below the front gates of the castle. Above them was a balcony.

"May we have your attention please?" said a voice. "Settle down everyone…"

Two figures appeared on the balcony. One was Jalal, the other was Jean-Claude.

"Hello everyone," said Jean-Claude, "and welcome one and all to the second Duelist Kingdom Tournament, one which I hope will be far more profitable than the original one. For the Shadowchasers attending, I am Jean-Claude Martin, one of your two hosts. I trust that the man to the left of me needs no introduction.

"Now, I know you're all eager to get started, but the rules are a bit more complex this time, so listen carefully.

"There are a hundred of you here… Fifty of them are Shadowchasers, the other fifty are a group of Pro Duelists sponsored by Lessiux Media Unlimited which, for the purposes of this tournament, are known as the Blue Knights Legion. My executive vice president is responsible for thinking up that name."

He chuckled a little.

"Anyway…" he continued. "The two groups will be easy to tell apart, as I've instructed all members of the Blue Knights to wear a blue scarf or bandana.

"Now, if you haven't taken the time to count those things you got that look like poker chips, you each have twenty of them. Each one can be redeemed for fifty Euros, or the equivalent of whatever currency your charity accepts, at the tournament's end. Thus, each duelist starts with a thousand Euros.

"For preliminary matches, a duelist is only allowed to duel a member of the opposing group. You may wager as many of these chips as desired and can continue to duel as long as you have at least one. Preliminary matches will last three days.

"The first four duelists from each team to acquire five-thousand's worth or more qualify for the finals, which will be held in the castle we're standing on right now. For duelists who don't get to the finals, their charities receive the amount they have if more than two-thousand, or two-thousand if they have less.

"For the finalists, at that point, they are assured ten-thousand Euros. Alliances are off at this point, and members of the two teams can duel each other.

"Winning the quarter-finals increases your winnings to fifty-thousand, while winning the semi-finals increases them to one-hundred thousand. Winning the tournament gives you five-hundred thousand Euros. Keep in mind that no 'Glory of the King's Hand' or 'Glory of the King's Opposite Hand' cards are needed. I like to think I'm not as egotistical as Pegasus was."

Jalal frowned at this comment, likely not certain that the statement was _entirely _true. But Jean-Claude went on.

"In addition, in the tradition of the original Duelist Kingdom, the winner may challenge the leader of the opposing team; that would be Mr. Stormbringer if the winner is a Blue Knight, or myself if it is a Shadowchaser. If this duel is won, the winner increases his winnings to one million Euros."

This last statement caused a great deal of excited murmuring in the crowd.

"Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, what the heck is wrong with you, Jean-Claude?" he continued. "How can you possibly afford to give away more than 1.8 million Euros?

"Well, as you know, this tournament is going to be broadcast globally on my Shadow-exclusive networks, and I've got loads of big-name sponsors covering it! I think I can safely say that the profit I'll make for this endeavor will more than cover the cost.

"And in return for that, the positive image it will generate for the both sides, and the donations for charity, will be well worth your trouble. It's a win-win situation for everyone involved, I must say.

"Now then… Mr. Stormbringer… If you will…"

Jalal stepped forward, and cleared his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" he said. "This tournament has corrected many of the… problems present in the original tournament. If you would all take out the maps included with the packages that you received…"

He waited a minute as they did so.

"This island has a few facilities that are available," he continued. "The icons shaped like a knife and fork are the locations of small kiosks where food is supplied. You can get hamburgers, hot dogs, and the like at these places… The food isn't grade-A, but it's sufficient. You can also recharge your iPads, laptops, and other equipment here, and as the letters said, this island does have WiFi access. The food provided by the servers is free. You can also buy chewing gum, snacks, cigarettes, and similar items here, as well as over-the-counter medicine like Tylenol; for Shadowchasers, use your bank card. For Blue Knights, you'll need a debit card. Just don't litter if you buy any of these items.

"The two icons marked with the letter T are places where you can shower, should you desire. They supply soap and the like, and clean towels, which are free. These places are also where you can get sleeping bags and tents; these are given for free, but you must return them later.

"Let me take this time to say that campfires are NOT allowed, and I do not care how many years you were in the Boy Scouts. We have taken some precautions against wildfires, but I do not want this tournament canceled because of one.

"If you are averse to sleeping outside, there are a few cabins that you can use. Try to limit the occupancy to five people, and anyone found fighting over them will be disciplined.

"The icon marked with a cross is the medical station, which I do hope we do not have to use. Mr. Martin has assured me that there are no dangerous beasts or poisonous plants on this island, but use common sense.

"There won't be any Eliminators sneaking up on you in the dead of night, but there will be a few administrators around to make sure that there is no fighting or cheating.

"The living conditions aren't perfect… But, if you get to the finals, the finalists will have much better accommodations at the castle. If you are drinking age, by British law, there's even alcohol available there. There will be room for spectators when the finals start, but only limited room, and it will be first-come-first-seated.

"Now, you each got one of these things…"

He held up one of the strange lenses that were included in the packages.

"Kaibacorp is working on this… They say that eventually, it will make the virtual dueling experience more realistic. For now, this is how the duels will be recorded for broadcast."

He slipped the device on, placing the earpiece over his ear, so that the lens covered his left eye.

"Just wear it like this, and we'll do the rest. We supplied special models for duelists who wear glasses that clip directly to the lens.

"As a reminder to all Shadowchasers present, this is not official Shadowchaser business, so _this _card…"

He held up a copy of Dragonprince Jalal.

"…is not allowed. I doubt that anyone will disobey me by using it, but if anyone should, that person will have to deal with the effect that activates if it is used by someone without authorization.

"And I'm not kidding."

The Shadowchasers knew what he meant. That card's text had an added effect that only appeared on it when the user was someone who was not permitted to use it, either someone who had stolen it, or a Shadowchaser who had fallen out of grace with the organization. If it was used at that time, all cards the user had on the field and in his hand would be banished, almost guaranteeing that he'd lose. Oftentimes in the past, this card and its previous incarnation had been stolen, but no-one had _ever _truly benefited from doing so.

"With all that said," he continued, his voice sounding more cheerful, "let's make this a good tournament. It's for charity, after all.

"That should be all I need to say…"

He took a pocket watch out of his jacket pocket and looked at it.

"For those of you wearing a watch… We're on New Zealand time, meaning that it's just about eight-forty in the morning now…

"The tournament officially starts at eleven, at which point, a chime that can be heard at any part of the island will signal it…

"Good luck…"

**0000000000**

_**Next:**_

_**Ember: I've never been one to believe in fate… But you have to wonder…**_

_**Apparently, if the stone marker is correct, this forest clearing is the very spot where the King of Games got his start, and I'm facing an opponent who uses Monsters of the same Type that his opponent used in that duel. This guy's cards are a lot more powerful than the ones that Insector Haiga used, and frankly, my Monsters are a great deal stronger than any Feral Imp or Mammoth Graveyard. But the game has changed a lot since then.**_

_**Still, the symbolism of this duel on this spot against this opponent has not escaped me. **_

_**What will be the outcome?**_

"_**Arsenal Bug" is coming soon.**_


	3. Arsenal Bug

_Author's note: While no author did the entirety of any chapter, credit must be given to the author who did most of it. Most of the time, you'll be able to tell who did the majority of a chapter simply by identifying the author who created the chapter's protagonist, but it isn't always as simple, so I will do so from now on._

_This chapter, for the most part, is my own. Enjoy._

**0000000000**

_**A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, as Lao Tzu once said.**_

_**Since I became a Shadowchaser, I've embarked on many journeys… Many of them were hard, but I could always count on having allies there along the way.**_

_**I couldn't ask Shichiro, Jinx, and Gears to come along this time… After all, Neo Domino is a big city, and the Shadowchasers are still needed there. I thought I was going to face this journey alone.**_

_**Seems I was wrong… I do have an ally. **_

_**Now it's just a matter of taking the first step, because the first leg of this journey may be rather bumpy.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**DRAW THREE**

**0000000000**

**Arsenal Bug**

**0000000000**

**00000**

About two hours later, twenty minutes before the dueling was to begin, Ember was wandering through the forests north of the castle.

It was a serene, peaceful place…

She remembered why Pegasus had chosen this island to hold the original tournament… It all had to do with the special house rules he had implemented.

The island had a wide variety of terrains: forests, deserts, mountains, grasslands… And because Field Spells were not widely used at that point, the place where each dueling arena was located gave Monsters a Field bonus depending on where they were. Basically, the terrains mimicked the effects of the first Field Spells, like Umi, Sogen, or Wasteland.

Thus, Fish, Sea Serpents, and Aquas gained a bonus from dueling close to the shore. Dragons, Winged Beasts, and presumably Thunder-Type Monsters gained a bonus from dueling in mountainous terrain. And any Monster that benefitted from the Forest Field Spell would gain an advantage from dueling in a place like this. Smart duelists in that tournament quickly learned where the areas were that gave their decks the best advantages, and stayed close to them.

To make things even more interesting, many dueling arenas combined two or even three Fields in one. It made little sense compared to today's rules, but that was the case then.

She was glad that those rules weren't in place now… Most of the Monsters in her deck were Pyros, and there was _no _Field Spell among those early ones that supported her Type.

The dueling arenas were gone now, their archaic holographic systems having been replaced at Battle City by the Duel Disk. Some of them could be found in museums, while others, she assumed, had been disassembled for the technology. Pegasus had held onto a few of them for a time; one really couldn't blame him for disliking Duel Disks, seeing as Kaiba had originally invented them in order to defeat him, but even he had gotten used to them after a while.

She turned, and saw a small stone marker on the ground. Curious, she walked up to it. The plaque on it was written in English, but the universal translator she was wearing made written text just as clear as spoken words.

It read:

**AT THIS SPOT DURING THE ORIGINAL DUELIST KINGDOM TOURNAMENT, YUGI MOUTO BESTED HIS FIRST OPPONENT, BEGINNING HIS JOURNEY TOWARDS THE TITLE OF KING OF GAMES.**

"Kind of gives you chills, doesn't it?" asked a voice behind her.

Ember almost jumped. She turned around, and formed a fighting stance, before she saw that it was only Gomi.

"Hey, relax!" he said.

"Sorry…" she said. "I'm a little nervous…"

"It does kind of give you chills," said another voice, one that was far more annoying. "Everyone wants to do what Yugi Mouto did… And then surpass him…"

Ember frowned. She turned and saw Insector Hakata standing at the other side of the clearing.

"So…" said Ember. "I guess you followed me here intending to prove that whatever I could do, you could do better?"

"More or less," said Hakata.

He lifted his Duel Disk.

"I lost to Enjo," he said, "but the way I see it, if I beat the duelists who, in turn, defeated Enjo, and in such a public manner, it will be my first step on my rise to the top.

"Jack Atlas and Yusei Fudo aren't around… But I'll get to them later…"

Ember sighed.

_Talk about deluded… _she thought.

"Well, you'll have your chance in exactly…" she said.

She checked her watch.

"…ten minutes. What's your ante?"

"One-thousand!" replied Hakata.

"Say WHAT?" shouted Ember.

"You heard me," said Hakata. "I'm wagering everything I have against everything you have… Unless you're scared…"

Ember looked at him.

"I accept!" she shouted.

"Ember!" shouted Gomi. "Come on, you don't have to prove yourself to this jerk…"

Ember looked at Gomi.

"Don't forget, Gomi…" she said. "When Yugi dueled Haga at this same spot, he wagered his only Star Chip, along with his entire deck… The offer kind of made Haga wish that he hadn't destroyed the Exodia cards.

"I don't have to go that far, but people who don't take risks never get anywhere."

She looked at her watch again.

**0000000000**

Watching them with some interest a safe distance away was an odd figure, using binoculars to view Hakata and the two Shadowchasers.

He looked like a male dark elf, wearing typical clothing for his species. The blue scarf he wore indicated that he was a member of the Blue Knights, and he wore a Duel Disk.

There was a cold chill behind him, and a very beautiful, ghostly woman with pale skin and white hair wearing a dress with a plunging neckline appeared behind him.

"Zanth…" she whined. "It's so warm here…"

"Yeah, Sarah, it tends to be rather warm in the South Pacific…" he said. "And that reminds me, keep your hands to yourself while we're here! The boss will have our heads if a Shadowchaser died during this tournament…"

The ghostly woman pouted a little, but didn't say anything.

"Now shush," said Zanth, "that Michiko woman is about to duel with a pretty hefty wager and I want to watch this…"

**0000000000**

The minute hand on the clock inched to eleven…

Then, exactly at the hour, a siren blared from the castle that could be heard all over the island. Fireworks shot from the towers.

Ember quickly donned the lens over her left eye.

"Duel Gazer, activate!" she shouted.

"Duel Gazer?" said Gomi.

"Kind of sounded like a cool name to call it…" said Ember, with a shrug.

Hakata smirked, and clipped his own lens over the left lens of his glasses. The two Duel Disks activated.

"Let's do this!" they both said at once.

**(Ember: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Hakata: 8,000)**

"I draw!" laughed Hakata, as he drew the top card off his deck with a swift stroke.

"And I call Sangan to the field!"

There was a loud chitter, and the three-eyed Fiend leapt out in front of him. (1,000 ATK)

"Cute little guy, isn't he?" he said. "I'll set this, and then end my turn…"

He fit a card into his Disk, and a set card flashed into existence behind Sangan.

Ember drew a card.

She looked at the six cards in her hand: Flamvell Dragnov, Flamvell Paun, Miracle's Wake, Blazing Inpachi, Flamvell Sabre, and Flamvell Gurnika.

_Not bad for a start… _she thought.

She took Flamvell Dragnov and threw it on her Disk. A small, fierce Dragon surrounded by an aura of flames appeared in front of her. (1,100 ATK)

"Expected something stronger than _that," _said Hakata.

"It's stronger than Sangan, isn't it?" asked Ember. "Attack that Fiend with Fiery Fervor!"

Dragnov blasted flames from its jaws, and the small Fiend was roasted to a crisp.

"You're too kind…" said Hakata. "Thanks to Sangan's effect…"

"You don't have to tell me what Sangan does!" said Ember. "I knew about that one before I knew who the Shadowchasers were!"

"Feh…" said Hakata.

He took a card from his deck and looked at it.

Ember took Miracle's Wake from her hand, and set it in her Disk.

"That should do it for now…"

**(E: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 7,900)**

Hakata drew a card.

"Guess I'll set this…" he said, as a set Monster appeared in front of him. "And that's my turn…"

Ember made a draw.

_Nice… _she said, as she looked at the card.

"I summon Flamvell Firedog!" she shouted.

There was a howl and a smell of brimstone, and a large, flaming mastiff appeared. (1,900 ATK)

"A member of the 1,900 Club?" asked Hakata with a scoff.

"And a powerful one!" replied Ember. "At least for my deck…

"Attack his Monster with Hellhound Scourge!"

Firedog blasted flame at the card, and a strange Monster appeared on it. It looked like a man in cybernetic armor, colored black and dark blue, with a visor over its face. It was quickly incinerated.

"Eh…" said Ember. "I use Firedog's effect… When it blasts an enemy Monster, I get to Special Summon a Fire-Attribute Monster from my deck that has 200 Defense Points or less, except another Firedog."

"And just how many Monsters fit the bill?" asked Hakata, with a chuckle.

"Almost every other Flamvell Monster, for your information," said Ember, sounding a little annoyed. "And this one too!"

There was a loud roar, and a large bestial Pyro appeared in a blast of flames. It looked like a cross between a fierce great cat and a bird of prey sculpted entirely out of flames, with wings made completely out of fire.

"I give you… Heat Haze Beast Hippogriffo," said Ember. (2,100 ATK)

"It's impervious to all targeting effects, so if that facedown card of yours is anything of the sort, don't try it…

"Attack him directly!"

The Pyro roared, and blasted a wave of white-hot plasma at Hakata.

"Fortunately, it isn't," said Hakata. "I activate Limit Reverse!"

His Trap Card lifted up, and Sangan reappeared. (1,000 ATK) Hakata shielded himself as it went up in flames.

He grunted, and took another card from his deck.

"Did you forget about Dragnov?" asked Ember.

The small Dragon spouted its flames, and this time, Hakata was actually knocked down.

"I _hate _Fire Monsters…" he snarled.

**(E: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 5,700)**

"Whoa, Ember…" said Gomi. "I hope I never have to duel _you."_

"Hey, you never know…" said Ember, with a smirk.

**0000000000**

"Heat Haze Beast Hippogriffo?" said Zanth. "Is that a new card?"

"Let me check…" said Sarah.

A scroll appeared in her hands, and then a picture of Heat Haze Hippogriffo's card appeared on it.

"Yeah, that's a new one," she said. "Rather powerful… It's not only is immune to targeting effects, but the controller can sacrifice another Fire Monster to increase its Attack Score by 300 points."

Another Blue Knight walked up behind them. He was very handsome, although quite pale, with his hair tied in a long ponytail draped over his shoulder. He wore a green jacket, a black shirt with a gray paint splatter design on it, and black pants with chains wrapped around his waist.

"Uh, Zanth?" he said.

"The boss is busy," said Sarah.

The man sighed, annoyed.

"Zanth, if your secretary doesn't mind…" he said, "I need to ask you a question…"

"If it isn't an emergency, then it will have to wait, Xander," said Zanth. "I'm watching Michiko's duel."

Xander sighed, and leaned against a tree.

"This is getting to be an obsession, Zanth…" he said, under his breath.

**0000000000**

"All right…" said Hakata. "I take back almost every nasty thing I said about you back on the boat…

"_Almost, _that is…"

He drew a card.

"Because I'm turning this duel around right now! I summon Inzektor Dragonfly!"

There was a shadowy aura, and an armored humanoid, similar to the one that Ember had destroyed last turn, appeared in front of Hakata. The color scheme of the armor was maroon and black, but it was clearly insect-like. The helmet had compound eyes and antennae, and insect-like wings were on its back. It carried a science-fiction-style laser rifle. (1,000 ATK)

"An Inzektor?" said Gomi, in surprise. "Wait… I've heard of them…"

"They're very new, and _very _dangerous…" said Hakata, with a grin. "Let me explain to you the neat trick that they can do… Inzektors can Equip to each other like Equip Spell Cards.

"Thus, I can take Inzektor Hornet here, and Equip it to Dragonfly."

He fit the card into his Spell Zone, and the red parts of Dragonfly's armor turned yellow.

"This causes Dragonfly to gain Hornet's Attack Points and Levels… That means Dragonfly is now Level 6, with 500 more Attack Points."

(1,500 ATK)

"But that's just the tip of the iceberg, because when Hornet is Equipped to a Monster, I can send it to the Graveyard to destroy one of your cards.

"And by the way, thank you so much for telling me that your Hippogriffo is immune to effects like that… Otherwise, I would likely have tried to use this effect on him."

"Me and my big mouth…" said Ember.

Dragonfly's armor turned back to its original color, and its Attack Score fell back to 1,000. Ember's set Miracle's Wake shattered.

"But there's more!" laughed Hakata. "Dragonfly has a neat effect too! When it has an Equip Spell, and that Equip Spell is sent to the Graveyard, I get to Special Summon an Inzektor from my deck, except another Dragonfly! So, I Special Summon Inzektor Centipede!"

The armored humanoid that appeared this time was bigger than Dragonfly, and looked hulking. Its armor actually suggested an insect's (or in this case, a myriapod's) exoskeleton, and the gauntlets had bladed claws. (1,600 ATK)

"I'm still not done…" said Hakata. "I can also Equip Hornet to an Inzektor from my Graveyard…"

Centipede's armor turned yellow. (2,100 ATK)

"And now he'll get rid of it so that I can destroy… THAT card!"

He pointed to Flamvell Firedog, and the fiery Beast exploded.

"But that's still not all…" said Hakata, as Centipede's Attack Score returned to 1,600. "Like Dragonfly, Centipede has an effect that activates when it loses an Equip Spell…"

He took a card from his deck.

"I get to take another Inzektor from my deck, like another Dragonfly!

"Don't panic, Ember!" shouted Gomi. "He still can't beat Hippogriffo!"

"Oh, can't I now?" asked Hakata.

He fit a card into his Disk.

"I also have a _real _Equip Spell… Inzektor Axe – Zektahawk!"

A large, nasty weapon appeared in Centipede's right hand. It looked like two battle-axes bound together, one at each end of a shaft. (2,600 ATK)

"It not only gives my Inzektor 1,000 more Attack Points, it prevents you from using Spell or Trap Cards when it attacks!

"So attack that Heat Haze Hippogriffo with Whirling Guillotine of Death!"

Centipede hurled the nasty weapon, sending it spinning through the air at Hippogriffo. Ember took a step backwards as an explosion blew her Monster into particles.

Hakata chuckled as the axe flew back to Centipede, and it caught it. He set a card in his Disk, and a facedown card materialized behind his two Inzektors.

"Fortunately for you," he said, "an Inzektor can't be Equipped to the same Inzektor more than once per turn, so your Dragnov is safe for now…"

"It's your move…"

**(E: 7,500) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 5,700)**

_Lovely… _thought Ember. _He'll obviously summon that second Dragonfly on his next turn, meaning he'll be able to do the same thing all over again, even if I destroy those two Inzektors…_

She drew a card.

_This will help… A little…_

"I play Card Destruction!" she shouted, as she played a Spell Card.

Hakata frowned, and discarded the three cards in his hand, then made three draws. Ember discarded four, and then drew four.

She smirked at Hakata.

"I sacrifice Flamvell Dragnov…" she exclaimed.

Dragnov turned into a ball of flames.

"…Flamvell Commando, report to the field!"

The flaming ball burst, and a tall, rugged, muscular man with violet skin, flaming hair, wearing blue fatigues, and holding a huge flamethrower, stepped forward. (2,200 ATK)

"You like Equips, Hakata?" asked Ember. "How about I give Commando's gun a little more octane by playing Salamandra!"

She threw the card into her Disk, and Commando burned fiercely… (2,900 ATK)

"Destroy his Centipede! Burning Death Blaze!"

Commando grunted, and pointed at the Inzektor. A blast of blue fire shot from his weapon, burning it to a crisp.

"If you liked Commando's attack," said Ember, "wait until you see his effect… By taking a Monster with _exactly _200 Defense Points in my Graveyard and banishing it, I can have him dish out damage equal to that Monster's Attack Score!"

She took Hippogriffo's card out of her Graveyard slot and pocketed it. Commando blasted his flamethrower again, and this time, Hakata really screamed.

**(E: 7,500) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 3,300)**

_That hurt worse that Enjo's Skull Flames EVER did! _he thought. _This babe is no amateur…_

_Still… It's gonna take more than that…_

He got up, and brushed himself off.

"My move!" he shouted, as he drew a card.

"Once again, from my Graveyard, I Equip Hornet to Dragonfly!"

Dragonfly's armor changed again, and its Attack Score changed to 1,500.

"Then, once again, I use Hornet's effect…"

The armor changed back to normal, and Salamandra shattered.

"Which, in turn, activates Dragonfly's effect…"

A second Centipede appeared next to Dragonfly. (1,600 ATK)

"Then, I Equip Hornet to Centipede…"

(2,100 ATK)

"…and use Hornet's effect again…"

Flamvell Commando shattered.

"Which lets me use Centipede's effect…"

He took a card from his deck.

"You didn't really think I only had two Dragonflies, did you?" he said.

"There was always hope," said Ember, nervously.

Hakata threw the card on his Disk, and a twin of the first Dragonfly appeared. (1,000 ATK)

"I'll Equip Hornet to my second Dragonfly," he said, as the second Dragonfly's Attack Score rose to 1,500. "There are no cards to destroy now unless I want to destroy one of my own… But it still gives Dragonfly a boost.

"And now it's time to attack! Swarm, my minions!"

Centipede leapt at Ember, and raked across her chest with its bladed claws. Then the two Dragonflies aimed their rifles and fired blasts of plasma, striking her and knocking her over.

**(E: 3,400) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 3,300)**

"A loop-destruction combo combined with a swarming combo…" muttered Gomi, under his breath. "It seems sportsmanship in this game died when Pegasus did…"

"I'll be fine, Gomi…" said Ember.

She got to her feet.

_I hope…. _she said to herself.

She drew a card.

She looked at it closely.

"I summon Royal Firestorm Guards," she said.

A weird, fiery creature materialized in front of her. It had a muscular torso, a fiendish face, arms with small wings, a long, serpentine trunk in place of legs, and was covered with bright, red scales. (1,700 ATK)

"Normal Summoning this guy activates an effect that's just like Pot of Avarice," said Ember. "I only have to return _four _Monsters to my deck… However, they all have to be Pyros."

She took Flamvell Sabre, Flamvell Paun, Blazing Inpachi, and Flamvell Commando, and added all four to her deck. The auto-shuffler activated, shuffling the cards. Then she made two draws.

Her eyes lit up.

"I activate the Double Summon Spell Card!" she shouted, as she played a card. "Now I get a second Normal Summon this turn.

"So, I'll summon Neo Flamvell Shaman!"

Tribal drums started playing, and a flaming witch doctor wearing a Tiki mask and holding a burning baton leapt onto the field. (1,700 ATK)

"Very pretty," said Hakata, sarcastically.

"Royal Firestorm Guards, attack the Equipped Inzektor Dragonfly!" shouted Ember.

The weird Pyro launched a stream of fire from its mandibles, burning the armored creature to a crisp.

"Big deal!" said Hakata. "I can still use Hornet next turn…"

"Not if my Shaman has anything to say about it…" said Ember. "Because now he attacks Inzektor Centipede with Tiki Torch!"

The Shaman blew flames from its mask's mouthpiece, reducing the Centipede to ashes.

"And because I have three Flamvells in my Graveyard," said Ember, as Firedog, Dragnov, and Gurnika briefly appeared behind her, "Shaman's effect can banish card in your Graveyard!"

Hakata gasped as Inzektor Hornet's card appeared in mid-air, and then went up in flames.

"Way to go, Ember!" shouted Gomi. "You completely broke up his loop!"

"Humph…" said Hakata. "For the moment, she did… But who's to say that's the only Hornet I have in my deck?"

"I'm not sure…" said Ember, as she crossed her arms. "I tend to think a card that powerful would be kind of rare…

"It's your move, by the way…"

Hakata drew a card. He looked hard at Ember.

"Well, maybe I do have more than one, and maybe I don't…" he said. "But still… That strategy isn't the only one my deck has…

"First, I summon Inzektor Hopper to the field."

There was another shadowy aura, and a new Inzektor materialized. This one had green and black armor, wings, and carried a long, high-tech spear. (1,700 ATK)

"Next, I'll move Dragonfly to Defense Mode…"

Dragonfly knelt on one knee, and held its weapon on its shin. (1,800 ATK)

"Then, I'll use my Inzektor Giga-Weevil."

He fit the card into a slot in his Spell Zone, and Dragonfly's armor turned slate grey. (2,600 DEF)

"By Equipping Giga-Weevil to a Monster, its Defense Score becomes 2,600… However…"

His facedown card lifted up.

"By using the Variable Form Trap Card, I can un-Equip Giga-Weevil in order to Special Summon it to the field."

Dragonfly's armor turned back to normal as its Defense Score returned to 1,800, and a new Inzektor appeared next to it. This one was big, hulking, and its armor didn't suggest an Insect at all. It was a walking, metal monolith that held an axe in one hand. It quickly knelt and assumed a Defensive position. (2,600 DEF)

"I'll set one more card facedown," he said, as a new card appeared in his Spell Zone, "and then you go…"

"Be careful Ember…" said Gomi, as Ember made a draw.

_This guy is trying something new… _he thought.

"I summon, the Tuner Monster, Flamvell Archer!" shouted Ember.

She played the card, and a muscular, bare-chested man with fiery hair and a beard, holding a bow with a fiery arrow, appeared in front of her. (1,000 ATK)

"Now, I'll Tune together Flamvell Archer and Neo Flamvell Shaman…"

The two Flamvells flew into the sky. Archer turned into a series of glowing rings, and Shaman slowly faded as he flew threw them…

"_Watch as these smoldering embers ignite into a white-hot flame to form a warrior with a soul of fire!"_

**(*3 + *3 = *6)**

"_I Synchro Summon… Flamvell Urquizas!"_

There was an eruption of flames from the spot in front of her, and a tall, powerful-looking man with armor the color and texture of coal and burning fists stepped out of the fires. (2,100 ATK)

_Her signature card! _thought Gomi.

"Attack his Dragonfly!" she shouted. "Fist of Fire!"

Urquizas roared, and socked the Inzektor hard, blowing it into pixels. Hakata grunted a little.

"Due to my Monster's effect," said Ember, "you take damage even though your Monster was in Defense Mode. And then, Urquizas gains 300 Attack Points."

(2,400 ATK)

_So why does Hakata look like the proverbial cat that ate the canary? _thought Gomi. _Something tells me that Ember did exactly what he wanted her to do. _

"I'll throw this facedown," said Ember, as a set card appeared behind Urquizas, "and then it's your move…"

**(E: 3,400) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 3,000)**

"All right, I draw…" said Hakata.

He drew a card.

"Yes, this one will do…" he said.

He put it aside, and then played a Spell Card.

"Here's a card that my old friend Hakozaki gave me," he said. "It's called Specimen Inspection… To play this card, I have to send a Monster in my hand to the Graveyard…"

He discarded a card called Inzektor Firefly.

"Then, I get to name a Type of Monster and a Level, and if you have one that matches in your deck, then you have to send it to _your _Graveyard.

"I name Pyro, Level 6."

Ember sighed, and took her deck from its holder.

"This is the only one that matches…" she said, as she picked Flamvell Commando.

She discarded it, and her deck was shuffled.

"I figured…" said Hakata. "Now, behold… My Inzektor Ladybug!"

He fit the card into his Disk. Hopper's armor turned bright red. (2,200 ATK)

"It grants Hopper 500 Attack Points, but more importantly, increases its Level by 2…

"And with two Level 6 Monsters on the field, I can build the Overlay Network!"

Inzektor Hopper and Inzektor Giga-Weevil dissolved into a spiraling vortex of energy.

"An Xyz Summon!" gasped Ember.

"Exactly!" laughed Hakata. "Show yourself… Inzektor Exa-Beetle!"

There was a blast of cosmic energy, and the next instant, the biggest Inzektor yet loomed over the field. This one didn't look like a humanoid in armor… It was more like a big, armored robot. It was hulking, with gold armor, and a helmet that suggested a stag beetle's horn. Its right arm had a huge spear blade in place of a hand. (1,000 ATK)

"That guy's bark is worse than his bite…" said Ember.

"He may not be very strong on his own…" said Hakata, "but by summoning him, I get to take one Monster from _either _Graveyard and Equip it to him…"

Flamvell Commando's card flew out of Ember's discard slot, and she watched as it was absorbed into Exa-Beetle. A flaming aura surrounded the Inzektor.

"This increases his Attack Score by half that of your Commando's…" continued Hakata.

(2,100 ATK)

"Next, a Trap Card…" said Hakata.

His facedown card lifted up.

"Inzektor Orb. This grants him 500 more Attack Points, and allows him to, just once, dodge any card effect that targets him, so long as I get rid of the Trap Card.

"And Exa-Beetle has a powerful effect of his own…"

He took Hopper's card, and discarded it.

"By getting rid of one Overlay Unit, I can choose one of your face-up cards and one of mine, and send both to the Graveyard.

"So, I choose my Variable Form, and your Flamvell Urquizas!"

Ember growled a little as both her Monster and Hakata's Trap Card shattered.

"Now for that… whatever it is…" said Hakata. "Attack Royal Firestorm Guards with Savage Stinger!"

Exa-Beetle lunged forward, and ran the Pyro through the chest with its spear. Ember made a face.

Then it shattered.

**(E: 2,500) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 3,000)**

"Heh…" said Hakata. "Your move…"

Ember snapped the top card off of her deck.

Then her Trap Card lifted up.

"Go, Call of the Haunted!" she shouted.

Urquizas leapt back on the field, and frowned. (2,100 ATK)

"Looks like I'll have to take care of him again…" said Hakata.

"I don't think so…" said Ember. "Because I also have Flamvell Baby…"

She played another card, and a small infant made entirely of fire appeared in mid-air next to Urquizas. (800 ATK)

"This little guy is a Tuner too," she continued, "meaning I can Tune it with Urquizas…"

Flamvell Baby flew into the sky, and Urquizas followed. Once again, Baby turned into a series of rings, and Urquizas started to fade as he flew through them…

"_Fires ignited in the throes of passion, stunning loveliness that can burn with a glimpse! Clustering stars shine your lights upon the one who can use beauty as a weapon!"_

**(*1 + *6 = *7)**

"_I Synchro Summon… Flamvell Enchantress!"_

There was a flaming aura, and a beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed, busty woman, dressed in a low-cut red dress with a short skirt and a golden crown set with a fire opal, appeared in front of Ember. She held a long staff, also set with a fire opal.

"Whoa…" said Hakata. "Don't know whether to attack her or ask her out…"

Flamvell Enchantress gave him a dirty look.

"I don't think either situation is going to be an option," said Ember, "seeing as her Attack Points are equal to the combined Attack Points of the two Monsters I used to summon her."

(2,900 ATK)

Enchantress pointed her staff at Exa-Beetle.

"Which means, she can squash your big bug! Burning Passion!"

A blast of fire shot from the staff, and Exa-Beetle groaned as its armor started to melt…

Then it shattered.

"And Enchantress has another effect too… Uhm… Well, ever hear of Elemental Hero Flame Wingman?"

Hakata screamed as Enchantress cast her spell again, this time aiming at him.

"Fortunately for you, like Flame Wingman does, she only takes the base Attack Score into account, so you only lost 1,000 Life Points…"

She set her last card into her Disk, and a facedown card appeared in her Spell Zone.

"I end my turn, Hakata… Let's see what else you've got…"

**(E: 2,500) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 1,700)**

Hakata seethed as he drew a card.

_Hey… Not bad… _he thought.

"I activate my Pot of Avarice," he said, as he played it.

He quickly took all three Dragonflies, one Centipede, and Exa-Beetle, and shuffled them into his deck. He made two draws.

"Heh…" he said. "I play Monster Reborn!"

He played the all-too familiar Spell Card, and Inzektor Hopper reappeared. (1,700 ATK)

"Next, from my Graveyard, I Equip it with Inzektor Ladybug, which, if you remember, increases its Attack Score by 500 points…"

Hopper's armor turned bright red again. (2,200 ATK)

"And then… The Equip Spell, Inzektor Sword – Zektkaliber!"

He played the card, and Hopper's spear vanished, replaced by a short sword of strange, alien design.

"These puns are getting out of hand," said Ember.

"I didn't name the card," said Hakata, "but it gives my Monster 800 more Attack Points…"

(3,000 ATK)

"…and that's just enough! Attack!"

Grasshopper flew at Flamvell Enchantress…

"I was hoping you'd do that…" said Ember.

"What…" said Hakata.

Then he realized what Ember was talking about…

Her facedown card lifted up.

"Dust Tornado!" she shouted.

The fierce cyclone blew towards Hopper, and the Sword in its hand was blown to pieces. (2,200 ATK)

Hopper tried to stab at Enchantress with its spear, but she knocked the weapon away with her staff, and then blasted the Inzektor to pieces with her fiery spell.

Then she turned to Hakata, and cast her fiery spell again. Hakata screamed and fell to the ground.

**(E: 2,500) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 0)**

"Well…" said Ember. "I guess it's true what they say… History does repeat itself…"

**0000000000**

"Pity…" said Zanth with a sigh. "I was rather hoping to see her use her most powerful card…"

"What is with you and this obsession over Jetta the Bronze-Hearted?" asked Xander.

Zanth turned to him.

"I'm just planning a little contingency plan, that's all," he said. "I take it you know about my… device?"

"The device that failed to work when you made the attempt again two weeks ago for the umpteenth time?" asked Xander.

"Yes…" said Zanth. "Jetta may be the only way to get it to work… If her power isn't enough, then I dare say no-one's is…

"And Michiko is the only connection we may have to her…"

"So then, this contingency plan of yours would be to somehow use Ms. Michiko as a hostage to set a trap for Jetta?" replied Xander. "You do realize that Jetta controls the Power Primordial, right? She can fly through the hearts of stars, blast holes in moons, and likely defeat whole armies by herself. The only reason the Harmonium was able to arrest her is because she surrendered.

"I doubt you'll convince her to do the same. Just how do you plan to capture her alive?"

"You know boss…" said Sarah. "That always has been kind of a weak point in our plan…"

"Uh… Well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it…" said Zanth.

"Zanth…" said Xander with his eyes narrowed down at his fellow Blue Knight. "Contingency plans are all well and good… But if they get in the way of the boss's ideals, I won't hesitate to nip this inane plan in the bud.

"So, either you get back on track and find some opponents, or I'll make you regret that you didn't follow the plan."

Zanth sighed. He hated when Xander was right… And when he threatened him.

**0000000000**

Ember placed the twenty chips in the third bank roll, and then put it with the first two.

"Two-thousand euros," she said. "I'm well on my way…"

"Want to stay together?" asked Gomi. "There's strength in numbers, they say."

Ember smirked.

"Why not?" she said. "After all… The King of Games was rarely alone in his quest to the top…

"So…"

She looked around.

"Where do we go from here?"

**0000000000**

**SPECIMEN INSPECTION (Spell Card)**

**Normal Spell**

**Image: **A museum full of dinosaur bones.

**Card Description: **Send 1 Monster Card from your hand to the Graveyard. Declare 1 Level and Type. Your opponent must send 1 Monster with both the declared Level and Type to from his hand or deck to the Graveyard.

_Note: "Specimen Inspection" was first used by Jim in the "Yu-Gi-Oh GX" episode "Primal Instinct". Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**0000000000**

**FLAMVELL ENCHANTRESS (Monster Card)**

**Spellcaster/Fire/Synchro/Effect/Level 7/? ATK/? DEF**

"_Flamvell" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner FIRE Monsters_

**Effect: **The ATK and DEF of this card are equal to the combined base ATK and DEF, respectively, of the Synchro Material Monsters used in its summoning. When this card destroys a Monster as a result of battle and sends it to the Graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the base ATK of the destroyed Monster.

_Note: "Flamvell Enchantress" first appeared in "Power Primordial"._

**00000000 **

_**The battle has begun! And the shadows have begun to swirl around this island already…**_

_**But not all the shadows are evil, darkness doesn't usually equal misdeeds, but at the same time, you cannot discern what is in the shadows – Whether it be a kind heart, or a devious schemer, or your worst nightmare – until you step within the shadows themselves.**_

_**Next time on the Tournament of Shadows, another one of our Shadowchasers gets a lesson in shadows – With a being who inspired one of the world's greatest of folk tales. But is the shadow the same as those hollow tales?**_

_**Next time!**_

_**Draw 4 **_

_**Misfortune **_

_**You won't wanna miss it!**_


	4. Misfortune

_Lux-Nero takes over in this chapter. I hope you like your first good look at Leroy as much as I did._

**0000000000**

… _**Oh, h-hello! I guess this is where I'm supposed to tell you about what you're about to witness. I honestly have no clue as to what I'm supposed to say and describe to you here, but that doesn't mean that I'm not gonna try.**_

_**I've been with the Shadowchasers for about… Uh… Was it ten or eleven years? I honestly can't remember at this point. Anyway, I've seen a number of weird Shadowkind in my day, I've faced off against a number of weird opponents, and I've seen things that I wish I'd never seen.**_

_**Unlike a number of the Shadowchasers who are in this tournament, I was never really given an exact base of operations. I was one of the many traveling Shadowchasers who were assigned to act as aid for teams across the globe who needed it. Personally, I loved to travel, and seeing the world was worth dealing with all the weirdness…**_

_**Although, when I was growing up, I never thought I'd see the world…**_

_**But that's beside the point. One thing that I learned in my travels and dealing with various Shadowkind, is that there was usually a reason behind each deed that they did – Whether it was to get revenge for the loss of someone, to get materials for money, or to satisfy their own sick pleasures. No one is born to be a criminal, despite what some psychologists believe.**_

_**I'm a firm believer of nurture being superior over nature – I'm a textbook example of it, and I'm almost certain that my current adversary is also like that. **_

_**How can I tell?**_

… _**There are so many reasons that I can't even begin to list them off…**_

**TTTTTTT**

**Draw 4**

**Misfortune**

**TTTTTTT**

As armored insects and flame engulfed beings crossed attacks with each other in the forest, it was rather calm where a certain long-sleeved, tall-collared shirt-wearing Shadowchaser was walking through. After the rules of the game were explained, Leroy Swartz, the rather experienced Shadowchaser, was exploring the island, enjoying the sights that the lush, forested paradise had to offer…

He was also trying his best to avoid any real competitive opponents.

It wasn't that Leroy didn't like the game of Duel Monsters, nor was he a slouch at it (even if he wasn't a pro) – It was the fact that he was up against practically an army of official Pro League duelists! Anyone would be a little uneasy with that kind of pressure on his back.

And thus here he was, taking in the sights that nature had to offer him – All the while listening to the duels that raged in the background. Leroy couldn't help sigh to himself, '_A marvel of nature, and its serenity is being ruined by all the battles…'_

KER-RACK!

Leroy's eyes widened when he heard a twig snap, and immediately he turned his head to the left, expecting to see another duelist sneaking up on him. However, the only thing that Leroy saw was a small doe that was walking a few yards away. '_Huh, I didn't expect to see that sort of animal on this island… Then again, I wasn't expecting to see these kinds of trees on an island either.'_

With a shrug, Leroy began to walk away, unaware that while the doe was the one who caused the branch to snap, but there was another living being who was hidden behind one of the trees, a smirk on his rugged face. '_I had a feeling I could sense him… But I never thought that it would actually be him. I'll have to keep an eye on him, but for now I'll have to get started on my own escapades.'_

Leroy couldn't help but take a deep breath, enjoying the salty sea air. From his walk from the woods, the black clothed Shadowchaser found himself at the cliffs that were near the woods, gazing over the seemingly endless blue that was before him.

Well, actually, he was reading a golden plague on a stone monument that read…

**At this location,**

**Yugi Mouto had his second official duel at Duelist Kingdom against Ryota Kajiki.**

"… Why do I feel like someone's said something like this before?" Leroy muttered under his breath as he shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't really matter. I can't be sight-seeing all day, I guess I need to find an opponent or…"

Before Leroy could continue his self-monologue a few strips of paper flew in front of his face, a little surprised, Leroy caught the shreds of paper. "What the?"

As Leroy snatched the paper scraps, he came to a realization: he wasn't alone. Standing quite afar from Leroy was an oddly dressed competitor near the cliff's side. The person in question was obviously a woman dressed in a black leather motorcycle suit that clung to her slightly muscular figure, a bulky belt around her thin waist, and a weird flame-like design on the jumpsuit. Leroy could tell from here that the woman was wearing a red helmet that matched the flame-like designs on her jumpsuit and seemed to have a wisp of black seeping from the bottom of her helmet.

The woman in question held her hand up where a few remains of the scraps of paper floated through the air. It was also there that Leroy noticed that a blue scarf was tied around her wrist, indicating that she was one of the Blue Knights. '_Alright, motorcyclist at a dueling tournament, I can understand if it was a Riding Duel tournament, but this isn't exactly the best place to have a Riding Duel.'_

Cautiously, Leroy began to make his way towards the woman, "Hello there!"

The woman nearly jumped out of her jumpsuit when Leroy called out to her and she immediately turned towards the Shadowchaser. Leroy raised an eyebrow at the woman's reaction, and it rose even further as the girl began to search her jumpsuit, patting it down in various places. "Uh, misplaced something?"

It was then that the woman snapped her fingers and slowly began to unzip the top of her rider suit, slowly revealing the pale white skin she had hidden. At the same time, Leroy's face turned a bright red when she didn't stop when she revealed a healthy amount of cleavage. "W-What in the world are you d-doing?!"

The woman tilted her head slightly to the right before she reached into her jumpsuit and pulled out a small smartphone that was nestled in her cleavage. She held the phone in one hand and began to type on the keyboard that was on it. When she was finished, she turned the phone around and it began to sound out, "Don't surprise me like that! It's annoying!"

Leroy rubbed the back of his head, "My bad, but it's not like you'd expect a biker around here… You're even decked out with a helmet, but no bike."

"I kinda need the outfit," the woman typed back with a shrug of her shoulders. "Being a Shadowchaser, I'm sure you can garner what I could be."

Leroy rubbed his chin as he raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure that you're a Shadowkind, but just because I'm a Shadowchaser that doesn't mean I'm an encyclopedia of Shadowkind. I could take a swing, but besides your pale skin, I can't really…"

Before Leroy could continue, the mysterious woman placed of her hands on the sides of her helmet and immediately lifted it off of her body – Revealing that there wasn't a head, but only neck that had black smoke pouring out from the top of it.

Needless to say, being a Shadowchaser prepared Leroy for a number of things.

… Unfortunately, he never had the pleasure of meeting a dullahan before today…

"AAARH!" Leroy yelled before he stumbled backwards. Even more unfortunately for him, he had accidentally slipped off the side of the cliff. "SONUVA-!"

Before he fell over the cliff side, the dullahan grabbed onto Leroy's arm and managed to pull the shocked Shadowchaser back from the brink of falling into the ocean. Unfortunately, in order to pull the stumbling Shadowchaser back on the cliff, the dullahan had fallen backwards with Leroy landing face first into the rocks. "OW!"

A few minutes and a bandage later…

"Thanks, I guess," Leroy muttered under his breath as he rubbed his slightly bruised and bandaged nose.

"I didn't mean to scare ya like that," The dullahan admitted as she typed her responses into the phone that spoke out for her. "I just assumed that since you're a Shadowchaser that you would've expected me to not have a head…"

"Forget about it," Leroy sighed with a roll of his eyes. "Let's just consider us even, I scared you, and you scared me. Seems like a fair trade…"

"But you almost fell to your certain death," The dullahan pointed out.

"'Almost' being the key word there," Leroy replied with a weak smile on his face. "So, I take it that you're one of the Blue Knights in the tournament…"

"Did the blue bandana give it away?" The dullahan retorted as she gestured towards the bandana was wrapped around her bicep. "Or the fact that I'm a Shadowkind?"

"Wow, I didn't think that it was possible to text sarcasm," Leroy muttered under his breath. "Yeah whatever… You got a name, or should I refer to you as Nameless Dullahan Number 2?"

"Where the hell did that name come from?" the dullahan questioned as she placed her helmet back on her head, and tilted the head guard slightly. "Don't call me some random names that pop into your head – I'm Jill Chambers. Riding duelist extraordinaire.

"Yourself?"

"Nothing as glorious as that title, I'm afraid," Leroy chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm just a Shadowchaser called Leroy Swartz, part of the roaming division and also part of the R&D team… Kinda…"

"Research and development, right?" Jill questioned. "So, you're the equivalent of being a Shadowchaser Desk Jockey?"

"Wow, I never thought I'd be called that," Leroy muttered under his breath with a dulled look in his eyes. "Not really, hence why I'm in the roaming division of Shadowchasers. Essentially I lend my skills to Shadowchasing teams that need my skills – I go where I'm needed. One Shadowchaser that I heard of actually goes across the globe and trained a number of Shadowchasers, and he's been doing that for years and years. I heard he's a nut actually… But that's beside the point of everything…"

"You just love to talk, don't ya?" Jill asked through her phone.

"Meh. Gotta use the daily words, or they go to waste," Leroy replied as he reached into his pocket to pull out a number of different scraps. "Speaking of waste, I think you may have dropped some scraps of paper…"

Jill didn't respond except to take the scraps from Leroy's hands and immediately tossed the scraps up into the air once more. Leroy was a little surprised by the action and watched as the scraps of paper danced in the breeze before they scattered away from sight, "Okay… I think I may have hit a sensitive subject."

"Well, duh!" Jill responded to Leroy as she stood up from her seat on the rocky cliff.

"I just assumed they slipped from your pocket," Leroy explained as he held up his arms defensively. "Not like I was trying to insult you or anything."

"Whatever," Jill replied as she lifted up her Duel Disk covered arm, aiming her finger directly at Leroy's face. "I might as well get started on this job. Leroy Swartz of the Shadowchasers, I challenge you to a duel!"

"… I'd say that this is a little out of left field," Leroy stated as he pushed himself off of the ground and dusted off his overcoat. "But this is a tournament, we are duelists on the opposing sides and I guess I need to start dueling at some point… So, I guess you're on."

Reaching into his pocket, Leroy lifted up the device that came with his acceptance – The D-Gazer. However, there was a difference between it and others. Its frame was black and had a red lens, and immediately Leroy slipped the device over his ear and eye, and it activated along with his Duel Disk. "D-Gazer set, Duel Disk ready, deck…"

Reaching into his overcoat, Leroy pulled out a red and black deck case that he opened and slipped the contents into his Duel Disk's deck slot. "And I'm set!" (LLP: 8000)

"Not too fancy of an opening," Jill stated as she walked a few feet away from Leroy to get some distance for the dueling field. "Then again, I'm not exactly being overly graceful either…" (JLP: 8000)

Leroy only shrugged as the D-Gazer over his left eye activated, almost making the scenery in his eyes much more vibrant. "There are duelists who love to go all out, and make a big deal out of anything that happens. Personally, I prefer subtlety, at least until I put the cards on the field.

"Although, I'm a little worried about you – Are you even going to be able to see what's gonna happen here?"

"We Dullahans have a weird way of seeing around us," Jill explained as she lifted up her Duel Disk. "We are fey after all, and even though we have no head, we do have a sort of spectral sense. I am able to see everything normally as if I had a head… It certainly took a while to get used to that…

"You should try seeing, hearing, tasting and smelling without your head sometime – Things get a little more… Vibrant."

"I'll just take your word for it," Leroy chuckled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "So, how about we both wager about five hundred euros each? It's enough to give the winner a boost in the tournament, but not so much to knock either of us out of the tournament."

"Only if I can get the first turn," Jill requested as she slipped off the top five cards from her deck.

"I guess so. Chivalry isn't dead, just on life support," Leroy stated as he pulled off his opening hand.

"Do all you Shadowchasers take duels with Shadowkind lightly?" Jill questioned as she drew her sixth card.

Leroy only shrugged in reply, "Once again, it depends on the Shadowchaser."

Jill shrugged her shoulders before she slapped a card onto her Duel Disk, making a face-down card appear on her field. "One Monster set, and for good measure, I'll set one card face-down as well. Turn end!"

"That's rather a basic opening," Leroy muttered to himself as he looked at the field. "Then again, I've made the same move countless times before, so I'm not one to say that."

"Whatever you say, Leroy," Jill responded as she crossed her arms. "That's my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Leroy announced as he pulled the top card from his deck and looked at the cards in his hand. "And I'll start off with a Spell Card called Alchemic Resources!"

"Alchemic Resources?" Jill typed out as Leroy pulled off the top three cards from his deck and placed them on his Duel Disk.

"Think of it as a fan flavor card of Pot of Duality," Leroy explained as three cards appeared over his head. "Like its infamous counterpart, I have to reveal the top three cards from my deck. So, show yourselves!"

The three cards spun around to reveal three different cards: The card on the right was a Spell Card that showed two different colored knights swirling around a number of different jewels. The middle card was a Monster card that had a yellow armored knight surrounded with electricity, and the third card was a weird Trap Card that had a young man with blond hair dressed in a red overcoat while looking at a Polymerization card that was in a flask. "Now, here's where it gets interesting. We both get to pick a card.

"The card you pick goes to the Graveyard, while the card I choose goes into my hand."

"Hmm, what's the catch?" Jill questioned as she tilted her helmet slightly. "A card like that can have both its effects benefit you…"

"True," Leroy stated as he waged a finger. "But, during the turn I use this card, I can't Special Summon or attack during my Battle Phase. So, it's a little more restrictive, so, please make your choice."

"If that's the case, then I'll get rid of your Trap Card," Jill ordered as Leroy pulled the card from Duel Disk and slipped the card into his Duel Disk's Graveyard slot. "I've never even seen that card before, and you can't use that Spell Card – I've at least seen that one before…

"So, you run Gem-Knights, eh?"

"They act as the basis for what I can do, yes," Leroy stated as he pulled the other two cards from his Duel Disk. "In any case, I'll choose to add Gem-Knight Tourmaline to my hand. So Gem-Knight Fusion returns to the bottom of my deck."

Both of the holographic cards disappeared as Leroy placed the cards in their proper places, "But back to my turn, I summon Gem-Armadillo to the field!"

The rocky ground in front of Leroy erupted with several rocks flying through the air, and along with the rocks appeared an armored armadillo with pressure tanks melded on its back (1700/500). The armadillo slammed its tail into the ground and yelped loudly. "And when summoned, my Armadillo grants me an additional Gem-Knight from my deck to my hand…

"And I'll go with Gem-Knight Garnet."

A single card popped out of Leroy's deck and he turned the card around to reveal the card. "Of course, I can't use this card right now, so, I'll set two cards face-down cards and end my turn with that."

"And with the end of your first turn," Jill's phone announced as the dullahan pulled another card from her deck. "It marks the beginning of the greatest show on earth!"

"You mean the Three Ring Circus?!" Leroy gasped loudly.

"Cute," Jill replied flatly as she reached for her Duel Disk. "Now, for the first star of this show – I flip summon Magical Assistant!"

The face-down Monster on Jill's field popped into a large cloud of smoke that had multi-colored pieces of confetti and pigeons that flew through the air. Through the smoke was a young stage magician girl who was dressed in a black leotard with a red cape and top hat that had several card suits sewed into the fabric (500/500). The stage magician winked lovingly at Leroy before she clapped her hands together and revealed a heart tipped wand that she spun in her hands.

"Okay, I didn't expect that," Leroy muttered under his breath. "I was expecting Fiends… Ya know, based off of Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

"… I'm just going to ignore that right now," Jill scoffed from her phone as she pushed a button on her Duel Disk. "And I'll be activating my Quickplay Spell – Disappearing Trick!"

The Magical Assistant held up a single card in her left hand and immediately tossed the card into the ground, which created a large cloud of smoke. "This card banishes one face up Spellcaster from my field until the end of my turn. But that's not what's important, what is important is my Magical Assistant's effect. When she's removed from the field, I can Special Summon one certain kind of Monster…

"And without further ado – I reveal Fortune Lady Light!"

From the smoke, a powerful twister of yellow energy parted the smoke to reveal a young, blonde haired and ragged robed woman with bat-like wings protruding from her head. The woman smirked as she spun the staff in her hands, creating another burst of light

"What in the…?" Leroy muttered eyeing the weird Monster. "What am I looking at?!"

"You never heard of the Fortune Ladies?" Jill questioned as she wagged a finger at Leroy. "Well, it doesn't matter. You see, my Fortune Lady Light's attack and defense are dependent on its Level. Her attack and defense are two hundred times her Level – Of course, that puts her at only two hundred each…"

Fortune Lady Light winked at Leroy as a single star popped around her body for a few seconds before it flew into her chest (200/200). "But, the beauty of my deck isn't just with that – It's the teamwork that my Fortune Ladies have with each other. Allow me to demonstrate:

"I summon Fortune Lady Wind!"

A powerful burst of wind erupted next to the Fortune Lady Light, unleashing another woman that was dressed like the Fortune Lady Light, only with a green and wind theme to it (?/? = 900/900). "And when she's normal summoned, for every Fortune Lady on my field – And since I've got two of them, I can blow away both of your face-down cards!"

"Uh, w-wait a second," Leroy muttered as both of the Fortune Ladies lifted up both of their staffs up into the air, crossing them to create a powerful orb of air. "I… Shoot, what was that term again? Oh yeah! I chain my two face-down cards! First, my Pyroxene Fusion Trap Card, however, what that does will have to wait because I'm activating my other trap – Fusion Fuel!"

Both of face-down cards on Leroy's field flipped up, the first one that Leroy activated – Pyroxene Fusion had a shining Gem-Knight leaping amongst countless jewels and gems. But the second one had a number of different fusion duel Monster cards floating on the original polymerization's vortex. "First, Fusion Fuel lets me reveal a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, and I choose Gem-Knight Aquamarine!"

Leroy pulled a card from the Extra Deck slot on his Duel Disk and turned the card around to reveal the dark blue armored knight with the bladed shield. "Then by sending a Fusion card from my deck, like say Gem-Knight Fusion, to the Graveyard, I can add one of the Fusion Materials to it. Of course, it has to be a specific Monster, so I'll have to take Gem-Knight Sapphire.

"Then there's Pyroxene Fusion, which allows me to fuse a Gem-Knight by sending the materials from my field and hand – So, by sending my Gem-Armadillo on the field and Gem-Knight Sapphire, I can summon one of the strongest Monsters that the Gem-Knights can create!"

The Trap Card merged into the ground and two large diamond covered gauntlets smashed through the ground to unleash a titanic knight covered with silver armor with a flowing blue cape. The knight slammed his fists together (2900/2500). "Gem-Knight Zirconia! So, your Fortune Lady's effect is useless! Heh..."

Leroy rubbed the bridge of his nose with a large smile on his face, "I think I actually pulled that move perfectly! Heh, this dueling business isn't too hard!"

"Good for you," Jill responded as she lifted up a card from her hand. "But it won't be enough to stop me – Your style of dueling is a little dated if you think that'll be enough. I activate the Spell Card, Dimensionhole!"

A large vortex appeared over Jill's field and began to suck up multiple stones and debris into it. "This spell removes from play one face up Monster on my field and keeps it banished until my next Standby Phase. I'll choose to remove Fortune Lady Light from my field."

The blonde Fortune Lady winked at Leroy before she leapt up into the air towards the vortex, and immediately disappeared with the vortex. "This of course allows me to activate Fortune Lady Light's ability… And with her power, I can Special Summon another Fortune Lady from my deck! 

"And this one will topple that titan of yours! Fortune Lady Fire!"

A powerful explosion erupted through the air as a third Fortune Lady graced the field, this one with wild red hair and red colored clothing. The fiery lady spun her flame tipped staff in her hands before she lifted it towards Zirconia (?/? + 400/400). Leroy raised an eyebrow at the Monster, "Uh, you'll have to forgive me, but I don't see how she's going to destroy my Monster…"

"You really do belong in R 'n D," Jill stated as a powerful flame appeared at the top of Fortune Lady Fire's staff. "Otherwise, you'll lose more than what I'm about to do – When Fortune Lady Fire is Special Summoned by the effect of a Fortune Lady, I can destroy one Monster on the field and make you take damage to that Monster's attack points!

"So, thanks for summoning that big target… Time for him to go boom!"

The flames from the Fortune Lady flew through the air and slammed into the Zirconia, making the large rock explode in a flurry of flames and diamonds that flew into Leroy. Needless to say, Leroy was surprised when the assault struck. (LLP: 5100)

When the flames and diamond shards stopped falling, Leroy coughed loudly with some smoke escaping from his mouth. "Maybe a desk job would be more my style…"

"I'd be inclined to agree," Jill stated with a wave of her hand as Wind and Fire flew through the air. "But, I'd be more concerned with the fact that you still have to face my two Fortune Ladies still! Wind and Fire! Attack him directly!"

Both of the magical ladies raised their staffs and unleashed their flames and wind that crashed into Leroy and sent him staggering backwards as they struck him. "URK!" (LLP: 3800)

"Maybe you should consider getting out of the Shadowchaser business," Jill suggested with a shrug of her shoulders. "From what I understand, you Shadowchasers are supposed to be master duelists, have elite fighting skills, and even possess the ability to take a few punches. 

"You… you just seem to be a little pathetic to be a Shadowchaser."

"Ouch, I think that comment hurt more than the damage I just took," Leroy muttered under his breath as he held his chest tightly.

"I only type the truth," Jill responded with a shrug. "For a Shadowchaser, you're not really putting up a fight. I'll set one card face-down, and during the End Phase of my turn, my Magical Assistant returns to my field in Defense Mode!"

A small cloud of smoke appeared on the field in front of Jill, and immediately the adorable little magician girl appeared with a smirk on her face (500/500). "So, would you like to continue or…"

Leroy took a deep breath before he drew from the top of his deck, "Yes. Yes I shall continue this duel. Not because I'm angry, but rather to prove to myself that I'm not as weak as you think. Now, to start off my turn, I'll activate the effect of the Gem-Knight Fusion that my Fusion Fuel dumped last turn!

"By banishing Zirconia from my grave, I can take the card from my Graveyard!"

Two cards popped out from Leroy's Graveyard, he pocketed one of them into his coat and the other he slipped in with the rest of his hand. "But, it's not staying in my hand long – I play it! And I'll fuse Gem-Knights Garnet and Tourmaline in order to Fusion Summon…"

A powerful surge of energy flew over Leroy's body, and two armored knights appeared on the field – One in dull reddish armor and the other was bright yellow armor – both of them struck a dramatic pose before they merged into the energy. "So, now I can bring out another Gem-Knight! Gem-Knight Citrine!"

The energy surged into flames as they merged into a tall sleek figure with a long broadsword in its fiery hands. The flames began to solidify until they transformed into a tall and sleek armored knight with fiery red armor, magma-like gauntlets and a long flowing blue cape that billowed in the wind (2200/1950). The knight lifted up the sword he held in his hands and stabbed it into the ground. "Now, let's get on with the assault! The good old saying – Fight fire with fire!"

The fiery knight snapped his foot against the sword and immediately brought the sword down onto the surprised dark sorcerer. Flames erupted through the air as they danced around Jill's body. However, unlike Leroy, she didn't scream – She really couldn't. (JLP: 6200)

"Next, I'll exit my Battle Phase," Leroy announced as he slipped two cards from his hand into his Duel Disk, giving him one last card in his hand. "And I'll set two cards face-down, and I'll set the last card in my hand as a Monster!"

The set Monster appeared on the field next to the knight, allowing Leroy to cross his arms over his chest. "So, what do you think of that? I just managed to take a good chunk of your Life Points out!"

"I've faced worse in the riding leagues," Jill replied as she drew from the top of her deck.

Almost immediately, Leroy's joy disappeared as he slumped forward with a look of utter defeat. "Oh yeah, you're supposed to be a pro duelist, right? Great, and after such a cool move, you barely even flinch!"

"Uh, I'm supposed to be the one talking down to you," Jill pointed out as she shrugged her shoulders. "Yeesh, ,you really have a low self-esteem, don't you? Well whatever, I'll just continue my turn. First Dimensionhole's effect brings Fortune Lady Light back to the field!"

The wormhole over Jill's head opened up once more, allowing the blonde haired sorceress to leap from it and appear back on the field with her staff spinning (200/200). "Next, both of my Fortune Ladies' effects activate! Their Levels increase by one each, and their Attack and Defense Scores increase at the same time!"

Four stars flew around Fortune Lady Wind's body (1200/1200) while two stars floated around Light's body (400/400). Both of the sorceress snickered as they snapped their staffs into the ground. "But I'm not done yet, I move to my main phase and I can activate the Spell Card – Magical Dimension!"

Green smoke poured out from ground as a large golden sarcophagus with many chains wrapped around it rose up. "Now since I have at least one Spellcaster on the field, I can use this card's effect. So, by releasing my Magical Assistant, I can not only Special Summon another Spellcaster from my hand but I can destroy one of your Monsters!"

The Magical Assistant threw her cane into the ground which created a large cloud of blue smoke. "Now, give it up for Fortune Lady Water!"

The sarcophagus opened up to unleash another exotic Spellcaster, with long blue flowing hair and tattered blue robes. The woman winked as she spun her staff around (1200/1200). "And now for Magical Dimension's second effect! Let's blast away Citrine! Or should I say, make him disappear?"

Several ghostly golden chains erupted from the Sarcophagus, instantly wrapping around the large armored knight, making the Gem-Knight drop the large sword in his magma hands. However, one of Leroy's face-down cards flipped up, and immediately shattered Citrine with the chains falling to the ground. "I don't think so! If anyone's gonna make him disappear, it's gonna be me! I play Mineral Make-Up!

"This Trap Card destroys a fusion Monster on the field, and if that Fusion Monster is a Gem-Knight Monster, I can Special Summon two Normal Monsters from my Graveyard! So, I'll bring back the two Gem-Knights that I used to summon Citrine in the first place!

"So appear – Garnet and Tourmaline!"

From the chains a large flame and a jolt of electricity surged from the chains. The flames transformed into a dull reddish armored knight with flames around it (1900/0) (1600/1800). "And since your target was removed, you don't get to destroy a card!"

"Perhaps," Jill stated as she pulled off the top two cards from her deck. "But Fortune Lady Water's effect still activates – So I can draw two cards from my deck!

"And they're just what I need to end this duel right now! I release Fortune Lady Light, in order to advance summon Fortune Lady Dark!"

Light disappeared into a dark shadow that warped her entire body, and transformed her into a dark version of Light with dark purple hair and robes. The Fortune Lady spun her staff through the air before she snapped it to the ground and caused a large amount of shadows to erupt from the tip (2000/2000).

"Oh for the love of…" Leroy muttered with a roll of his eyes. "This is gonna suck… REALLY BAD!"

"Oh you haven't a clue," Jill replied as she threw her hand forward. "Fortune Lady Dark! Attack Tourmaline!"

The dark lady pointed her staff forward and a stream of darkness flew from the tip of her staff, intent on destroying the electrified knight. '_Once Dark destroys that knight, I can Special Summon Fortune Lady Fire from my Graveyard, and then I'll be able to destroy his Garnet and get him down to a good chunk of his Life Points. Hopefully his face-down Monster doesn't have a lot of defense points, but even if it does, I'll be able to charge through on the next turn. _

'_I guess I don't have to use the big guy for this… Not that I actually drew him yet… But it doesn't really matter now…'_

"I think I'm starting to get the hang of this game!" Leroy announced as he threw his arm over to the side. "I activate Negate Attack! So no attack for you!"

A powerful barrier materialized around Leroy's field and knocked the dark energy through the air.

"Hmm, not too bad of a move," Jill replied with a wag of her finger. "You staved off an attack that would've done a load of damage. Bravo, bravo…"

"I can't tell if that's sarcasm or not," Leroy stated with his head tilted slightly.

"Take it as you will," Jill replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "I end my turn, and if you've managed to learn anything, then this will be fun."

"Great…" Leroy stated as he drew from the top of his deck. "No pressure at all…"

**TTTTTT**

It was about ten minutes after Ember's first duel. Ember and Gomi were walking along the grassy part of the island where years earlier, Katsuya Jonouchi had first confronted Kujaku Mai.

"This is such a beautiful place…" said Ember. "I'm surprised that I2 sold it…"

"Frankly, Ember…" said Gomi, "I'm sure that its original owners were surprised that I2 _bought _it."

"Pardon?" asked Ember.

"From what I heard," said Gomi, "for all its beauty, this place had a rather grim history. During the Pacific War, United States troops were stationed here… The soldiers that died in combat were buried in the caves under the island… Makeshift catacombs full of unmarked graves on unhallowed ground…

"After the war, the U.S. government had an island that no longer had any strategic value, which no-one wanted. It's kinda hard to sell an island with a neglected cemetery underneath it, even if it is beautiful.

"After several years, Pegasus was able to buy it for peanuts, and made it his private residence. He was even able to convert those catacombs and put them to good use when it came time to host the original tournament, making two special dueling arenas…"

"Yeah, the Crypt and the Labyrinth…" muttered Ember.

Gomi sighed.

"There were rumors that Pegasus was involved in black magic back then…" he said slowly, "and that the island's dark past helped amplify it…

"But hey… There were a _lot_ of rumors about him, as was often the case with celebrities… I'm sure that there was a rumor going around once that he was dating Lady Gaga… Which, of course, was pure nonsense…"

Ember sighed.

"So…" she said, changing the subject. "Are you married?"

"No…" sighed Gomi. "Long story…"

"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked.

He smirked and shook his head.

"How come?" she asked.

"It's an even longer story…" he replied.

**TTTTTT**

Leroy spun the card so he could look at the card and his eyes widened at the card he had. Slowly he lifted the card to his hand and immediately slipped the card into his Duel Disk. "… So, I've drawn it… I'll set that card, and I'll reveal my face-down Monster – Morphing Jar!"

The face-down Monster flipped up to reveal the cackling, living gray pot that had a weird living creature inside of it that cackled loudly (700/600). "If you're a pro, then I don't really have to explain what this card can do."

"Indeed you don't," Jill answered as she pulled off five cards from the top of her deck while Leroy did the same. "So many duelists use that card that its kinda being a little… Old. Damn reprinting…"

"I should point something out," Leroy stated as he pulled the card off of his Duel Disk and held up the Morphing Jar card – Revealing that the card itself was gleaming and had a few scratches on it. "This is a first edition Morphing Jar that came out in the original pack, this thing is quite old."

"And what significance does that hold?" Jill questioned with her arms crossed.

"Uh… I… Don't know," Leroy muttered loudly as he fitted the card back onto his Duel Disk. "But, it doesn't matter!"

"Then why bring it up in the first place?" Jill asked.

"… Because shut up," Leroy growled back.

"Smooth comeback…" Jill typed in response.

"… Let's get back to the duel," Leroy muttered as he lifted up his Duel Disk and reached into his Graveyard. "I'm about to activate one of my most powerful Spell Cards – but, before I can do so, I need to banish another Fusion card from my Graveyard. So, by banishing Pyroxene Fusion, I can activate X Alchemic Fusion!"

The card that Leroy just set immediately lifted up, revealing a picture that had a young man surrounded by countless suits of armor standing amongst a large glowing circle on the ground with electricity flowing around it. And almost a second later, the card melded to the ground and the three Monsters on Leroy's field began to fall towards the ground. "This card is so powerful that in order to use it, I have to banish a Fusion from the Graveyard – But now, thanks to this, I can select a certain kind of Monster in my Extra Deck and banish the necessary Fusion Material Monsters from my field, hand, or Graveyard!

"So, I'll remove one Pyro Monster – Gem-Knight Garnet – and two Earth Monsters – Tourmaline and Morphing Jar!"

Several sparks of electricity surged from the ground and pulled all three of Leroy's Monsters into the earth. "Now, arise from the depths of the earth – With the power of ancient arts I create from the necessary materials – Alchemic Incendia Titan – IGNIS!"

The ground began to shake wildly, to the point of making Jill and all of her Fortune Ladies falling over. Immediately, the ground behind Leroy opened up with a large magma covered hand erupting from it. Another huge arm popped from the ground with rocks falling around and the two arms began to pull out whatever was connected to the arms. Immediately a red armored golem pulled itself from the ground, with a several flames erupting from the gaps between armor and a large lower jaw that had flames spilling out from the top.

The golem roared loudly as it lifted its arms up into the air, making the entire cliff-side shake wildly (2800/2000).

"… What in the world…?" Jill typed, although her texting was almost devoid of emotion, the visible shaking that she exhibited was enough to show that she was afraid. "What in the world is that thing?!"

"This thing is a fruit of alchemic production," Leroy explained as he smirked evilly. "I'm pretty sure that you remember that I'm a part of the R&D department – Well, my research concerns the matter of Alchemy. Every day, some villain uses alchemy to create golems, restore some ancient artifacts, or even to do some real stupid crap…

"That's when the R&D department comes into play—where I come into play. I've got a real history with alchemy and those sorts of abilities, and they call us out in order to gauge the situations in order to determine what sort of plots the bad guys are planning on doing. Hell, there were a few times where we have to go into the field and deal with the situation…

"If I had to compare us to something, we're a combination of desk jockeys, the bomb squad, and special victims – We spend most of our investigations in the books, but we can act when we need to."

"So, what does that have to do with this monstrosity?" Jill questioned with an accusatory finger pointed at the large titan of flames in front of her.

"This guy is part of a set of promo cards that won't be released to the public for at least another three months," Leroy stated as he snapped his fingers, making the flames from Ignis dance around him. "I got them as a perk when I was sent to help out a card designer who was being forced to make customized cards for some freaky alchemist. I just thought to give a bit of hindsight before I revealed what Ignis can do.

"While he's out on the field, all other Monsters on the field lose their effects!"

"What?!" Jill typed out as she stepped back and watched as Fortune Lady Dark (0/0), Wind (0/0) and Water (0/0) all slumped to their knees, weakened by the flames that now encircled the field.

"Hmm, ya know, we're at the place where Yugi Mouto dueled against Ryota Kajiki," Leroy pointed out with a thoughtful look on his face. "But I just pulled a move that was on par with what Katsuya Jonouchi did in his first duel on this island… Weird. Oh well, Ignis! Attack Fortune Lady Dark!"

The large alchemic titan snorted loudly with flames erupting from its joints as it raised one of its fists up and immediately slammed the fist into the dark sorceress and sent her skidding backwards and past Jill. (JLP: 3400)

However, Fortune Lady Dark merely fell to the ground with her hands wrapped around her slightly singed torso. "My Monster wasn't destroyed?"

"Most of the Alchemic Titans I have possess limiters to them," Leroy explained as he held up three cards from his hand. "Ignis is no exception. He can't attack you directly nor can he destroy Monsters as a result of battle. So yeah, it's a bit of a handicap, but when it's got a Skill Drain effect to it, it's not too bad.

"In any case, I'll set three cards face-down and call it a turn!"

The three set cards appeared in front of Leroy as Ignis pulled its fist back.

Slowly, Jill pulled a sixth card from her deck and into her hand of cards, '_Damn it… How am I gonna get past that thing? I don't have any of my Smashing Grounds or my other Monster destroyers in my hand… But I don't need them in order to win! I've got just the combo to end this duel right now!'_

"I'll start this turn off by activating my face-down card – Call of the Haunted!" Jill announced as the ground erupted with several beams of light. "So, I'll bring back Fortune Lady Light!"

The light surged around until it formed back into the golden haired sorceress, albeit she seemed weakened (0/0) in the presence of Ignis. "But she's not staying for too much longer! I activate Different Dimension Gate! Now, one Monster from both sides of the field is banished from the game! I'll be banishing Ignis and Light from the game! So, not only will I be able to get my Monsters' effect again, I can also use Fortune Lady Light's ability to summon another Fortune Lady!"

A large, futuristic gate appeared in between the two duelists, with a swirling vortex of energy surging through the gate. The gate began to draw both Ignis and Fortune Lady Light towards it, while Fortune Lady Light was easily drawn into it, Ignis slammed both of its fiery hands into the ground to anchor itself, however, it was a futile effort as Titan simply disappeared into millions of blinks of light.

"Now, say hello to Fortune Lady Earth!" Jill announced as the earth shattered to reveal a glasses wearing sorceress, with bowl cut brown hair and earth brown robes. The woman landed alongside with the other Fortune Ladies and spun her staff around (2400/2400) (2000/2000) (1200/1200) (1200/1200). "While your Monster did negate my Fortune Ladies effects before, Fortune Lady Wind had already increased her Level beforehand, so, she's just as strong as Water now…

"But I'm more interested in ending this duel right here… RIGHT NOW! Fortune Ladies! Attack him directly with Misfortune Elements!" 

All four of the Fortune Ladies lifted up their staffs towards Leroy, each of them charging their attacks at Leroy who snapped his Duel Disk up as a shield. However, all four of the attacks flew from the staffs and crashed into Leroy's body, creating a large explosion that rocked the side of the cliff.

"And with that, the curtain falls," Jill typed as all four of her Fortune Ladies bowed towards the rising smoke that was Leroy's field. "I'll be taking what we wagered now Shadowchaser… Although, I have to admit, you're not a half-bad duelist for an R&D member."

"Thanks, I really appreciate that," Leroy spoke as the smoke began to flow away from his side of the field and his coat. "But, we're not done here. Not by a long shot." (LLP: 800)

"What the?!" Jill exclaimed as she and her four Fortune Ladies stepped back from the surprising scene. "How in the world did you survive that?"

Leroy gestured to his right and revealed that one of his face-down cards had lifted up – which was a Spell Card that had a shadowed man holding onto what appeared to be an energy drink. "Hyper Refresh happened – When you attack me and your Monsters' combined attack strength is more than my Life Points, I can double my Life Points right on the spot!

"So, while you managed to take a real good shot at me, I still had a few tricks up my sleeve."

"… Indeed, but you're not the only one who can have set cards," Jill replied as she held up two cards from her hand. "I set two cards face-down, and I call my turn!"

'_He's got two face-down cards, and two cards in his hand… He'll have a third next turn. But I think I'll have my bases covered – I've got my defense: Mirror Force, and Magic Jammer out to make sure that he doesn't pull anything to rid of my cards – But, even if he just defends, I'll be able to burn him with Earth's effect and it'll only take two turns to burn through the rest of his Life Points. Maybe less if I can pull another one of my little tricks._

'_But it all depends on his next move…'_

Leroy slowly pulled off the top card of his deck and looked at the card before he pushed a button on the right side of his Duel Disk. "I'll start this turn by activating my Trap Card, Dust Tornado! And I'll use it to destroy the face-down card on the left!"

The card to Leroy's right lifted up and unleashed a powerful twister that dashed through the air and crashed into the card on Jill's right, revealing the Magic Jammer Trap Card she had. '_Well, he had to set that card to use it… So, I doubt that he's got any other destruction cards up his sleeve…'_

"Next, my second face-down card," Leroy announced as a large crack appeared in the sky over Leroy's head. "Return from the Different Dimension! So, for a cost of half of my Life Points, I can Special Summon as many of my removed from play Monsters as I can!" (LLP: 400)

If she had eyes, Jill's would've widened as four large shadows appeared from the air. "No! Ignis!"

"… Unfortunately, Ignis can only be Special Summoned through Fusion Summon," Leroy explained as four orbs of light crashed down in front of him. "However, my other removed Monsters are another story! Zirconia! Garnet! Tourmaline! Morphing Jar! Return!"

The orbs of light exploded to unleash the titanic Zirconia (2900/2500), the fiery Garnet (1900/0), the electrifying Tourmaline (1600/1800) and the small Morphing Jar (700/600). All four of the Monsters gathered behind Leroy with Zirconia slamming his diamond fists together, Garnet threw a flame up into the sky, Tourmaline sparked wildly with electricity and the Morphing Jar spun around wildly.

'_Well, this just made my job easier,'_ Jill thought as she rubbed the side of her helmet a few times. '_Even if he doesn't attack, I'll just be able to burn through his Life Points at the beginning of my next turn.'_

"Now, for the final card to play this duel," Leroy stated as he held up one of the other cards in his hand and immediately slipped the card into his Duel Disk. "I play HEAVY STORM!"

Jill's helmet nearly popped off of her neck when the powerful storm swept through the area, shattering every spell and trap that Jill had on her field, including the large gate that stood between her and Leroy. "And without your Different Dimension Gate… two Monsters will reappear!"

Indeed the blond Fortune Lady reappeared on the field with light gleaming around her (200/200)…

However…

She wasn't the only one to appear…

With a fiery explosion, the mighty fiery titan reemerged behind all of the Monsters on Leroy's field and roared loudly (2800/2000). And with that mighty roar, all five of the Fortune Ladies on Jill's field fell backwards and visibly shook from the presence of the large titan (0/0 x5).

"… Any last words?" Leroy asked as he held his fingers up like they were a gun.

"Uh… Please don't attack?" Jill requested.

"… Request denied," Leroy replied as he shot his hand up into the air as if he pulled an invisible trigger on a gun and all five of his Monsters charged across the field – The Morphing Jar leapt through the air, Tourmaline and Garnet charged across the field while Zirconia and Ignis pulled their fists back.

All five of the rock-themed Monsters struck the Fortune Ladies, causing all of them yell out and explode into their individual elements that crashed into Jill's body – which in turn made her helmet pop off of her neck and forced her to fall backwards. (JLP: 0)

And with that, Leroy removed his D-Gazer and tossed it up and down, "And that's… Jackpot."

Meanwhile, at the woods near the cliff-side, a shadowed figure sighed loudly, "Yeesh, he's not even doing the winning pose right… Oh well, he's still learning…"

Slowly, the shadowed man walked away, his coat billowing behind him slightly.

Back at the cliff…

"Good game Jill," Leroy stated as he held his hand out towards Jill to help her up. "I may not have been a great duelist but, against a pro like you… Well… I…"

"Don't sweat looking for fancy words," Jill replied as she took Leroy's hand and was immediately pulled to her feet. "Winning and losing, it's all a part of dueling. I've gotten used to it. Congrats."

"Wow, you're taking your loss quite well," Leroy commented as Jill released his hand and began to retrieve her helmet. "I guess pros have to be well versed in winning and losing…"

"Yes and no, I guess," Jill answered back as she picked up her helmet and fitted it back over her smoking neck. "You see, I'm not usually a ground duelist. I'm more of a riding duelist – If I lose a ground duel, then I don't really consider it a loss. But still consider yourself a winner… Catch!"

Reaching into her helmet, Jill tossed out several chips towards Leroy who caught them in his hand, "… Do I even wanna know where you keep these?"

"Us fey have a few tricks up our sleeves," Jill typed as she began to walk away. "Hope you don't get kicked out of the tournament early."

"… It's not your sleeves I'm worried about!" Leroy shouted back as Jill began to disappear into the woods.

Leroy sighed loudly as he slipped the chips into his pocket, giving himself a mental note to put them in the third bankroll when he got away from the cliff. And just as he was about to walk away, something caught his eye. "Huh?"

Trapped between the ground and one of the rocks was a large, ripped piece of paper. From what Leroy could guess was that the piece of paper was probably part of the photo that Jill had ripped up earlier – And from how she reacted when he showed her the remains, he knew that he should leave them alone…

But should and did are two different things, and humans are beings of curiosity…

So, Leroy plucked the photo piece from the rock and looked at it. This bit of the photo had two faces close to each other – One was a young fey woman with short, messy blonde hair and long ears while the other was a rather rugged face man with short black hair – the couple seemed prepared to kiss. Leroy blinked a few times before he tilted his head. '_Why would she have a picture of a couple? Parents? Family? Meh… This isn't any of my business…_

'_I should respect her privacy…'_

Leroy was about to release the piece of photo into the air, but stopped himself. With a slight sigh, he slipped the photo into his pocket and began to walk away.

**TTTTTT**

**Card Stats**

**Gem-Knight Zirconia / Earth / LV. 8 / ATK: 2900 / DEF: 2500 / Rock/Fusion:** [1 "Gem-Knight" Monster + 1 Rock-Type Monster]**  
Description:** A large silver armored knight with a black cape and a pair of diamond studded gauntlets.

**Gem-Knight Citrine / Earth / LV. 7 / ATK: 2200 / DEF: 1950 / Pyro/Fusion/Effect: **[1 "Gem-Knight" Monster + 1 Pyro-Type Monster] Must first be Fusion Summoned. If this card attacks or is a attacked, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step.**  
Description:** A tall and daunting red armored knight with fiery gauntlets with a matching sword and a long flowing blue cape.

**Pyroxene Fusion / Trap / Effect:** Send, from your hand or side of the field to the Graveyard, the Fusion Material Monsters that are listed on a "Gem-Knight" Fusion Monster Card, then Special Summon that fusion Monster from the Extra Deck. (This is considered a Fusion Summon).**  
Image:** A shining Gem-Knight amongst countless jewels and gems.  
_The preceding three cards are currently Japanese only cards in Duel Terminal. But they will be released in a future pack in America._

**Hyper Refresh / Quickplay Spell / Effect:** Activate only when your opponent declares a direct attack and the combined ATK of your opponent's face-up Attack Position Monsters are higher than your Life Points. Double your Life Points before Damage Calculation. **  
Image:** A shadowed man holding up an energy drink with a sun burst behind him.  
_This card was used by Joey Wheeler/Jonouchi Katsuya in the original anime._

**Alchemic Resources / Normal Spell / Effect:** When this card is activated, reveal the top 3 cards of your deck. First, your opponent selects 1 card from the revealed cards, then you select 1 card. Send the card you selected to your Graveyard, add the card your opponent selected to your hand, and return the card not selected to the bottom of your deck. You cannot Special Summon or attack during the turn this effect was activated and you can only activate one "Alchemic Resources" once per turn.**  
Image:** A trio of gems being laid out on a transmutation circle.

**Fusion Fuel / Normal Trap / Effect:** Reveal one Fusion Monster in your Extra Deck. Send 1 "Polymerization" or "Fusion" card from your deck to the Graveyard. You may add 1 of the Fusion Materials listed as Fusion Material Monsters on the selected card from your deck to your hand.**  
Image:** A shining Gem-Knight leaping amongst countless jewels and gems

**Refinement / Normal Trap / Effect:** This card's effect can only be activated by banishing it from your Graveyard during your turn. Add one "Fusion" or "Polymerization" card from your Graveyard to your hand. During the turn this effect is used, you cannot use the card that was added to your hand. **  
Image:** A young man with blond hair dressed in a red overcoat looking at a Polymerization card in a flask

**Mineral Make-Up / Counter Trap / Effect:** Destroy one face up Fusion Monster on the field. If the destroyed Monster was a 'Gem-Knight' Monster, you can Special Summon 2 Level 4 or lower Normal Monsters from your Graveyard.**  
Image:** Gem-Knight Ruby holding up several broken up gems in his hands.

**Magical Assistant / Light / LV. 1 / ATK: 500 / DEF: 500 / Spellcaster/Effect:** When this card is removed from the field (other than by being released), you may Special Summon 1 Level 3 or lower "Fortune Lady" Monster from your deck.  
**Description:** A young stage magician girl who was dressed in a black leotard with a red cape and top hat that had several card suits sewed into the fabric

**Disappearing Trick / Quickplay Spell / Effect:** Select and banish 1 face up Spellcaster-type Monster on the field. During the End Phase this card was activated, Special Summon the banished Monster back to its owner's field.**  
Image:** A Dark Magician Girl stepping into a Mystic Box with a few feathers dancing around it

**X Alchemic Fusion / Normal Spell / Effect:** This card can only be activated by banishing 1 'Fusion' or 'Polymerization' card from your Graveyard. Banish all Fusion Material Monsters from your hand, field or Graveyard that are listed on an "Alchemic" Fusion Monster in your Extra Deck and Special Summon it (this is considered a Fusion Summon). During the turn this card was activated, the Monster Special Summoned with this effect is unaffected by your opponent's card effects. **  
Image:** a young man surrounded by countless suits of armor standing amongst a large glowing circle on the ground with electricity flowing around it

**Alchemic Incendia Titan – Ignis / Fire / LV. 9 / ATK: 2800 / DEF: 2000 / Rock/Fusion/Effect:** [1 Pyro-Type Monster + 2 EARTH Monsters] This card can only be Special Summoned via Fusion Summon. While this card is face up on the field, all other Monster effects are negated. This card cannot destroy Monsters as a result of battle and cannot attack directly.  
**Description:** a red armored golem with a several flames erupting from the gaps between armor and a large lower jaw that had flames spilling out from the top of its jaw, its arms are covered with burning magma and its eyes are a soul piercing gold.

** 0**

_**Next:**_

_**Ace: Jill may have been okay, but not everyone in this tournament is so nice. I'm staring right at one of the nastiest creeps I've ever met—and one guy that I just can't peg one way or the other. What's his game, anyway?**_

_**?: Duel Monsters, of course, my dear.**_

_**Ace: YOU? What're **_**you **_**doing here!**_

_**?: No time! Just look! Alice, the beautiful warden, destroyed so soon! My heart is weeping!**_

_**Ace: Get a grip! I'm fine! "Delta Attacker" is up next! **_


	5. Delta Attacker

_MultiplePersonas did the writing here, and I couldn't be happier to see the archetype of cards that I started an age ago, it seems, expanded so well…_

_Before this goes further, I'd like to state that the main antagonist in this chapter in no way represents his entire species, and people like him are likely the reason for their bad reputation._

_Man, you know I've been doing this a long time when I have to put in disclaimers like THAT._

**0000000000**

_**Hello, there. My name is Bruno von Klein. I'll bet you were expecting somebody else, weren't you? That's okay. You're forgiven. But while I'm here, I might as well share something with you.**_

_**Psychology is half the game. Sizing up your opponent and knowing how to react to their moves is essential. Control them, and you control the duel. I've spent years training myself to read my opponent's facial expressions, and in the last few months I've managed to learn how to mask my own. **_

_***Sigh* Now if only I could find an opponent that would warrant a proper challenge…**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**DRAW FIVE**

**0000000000**

**Delta Attacker**

**0000000000**

**00000**

Where Ember had left for the forest and Leroy had journeyed toward the cliffs, Bruno trail-blazed his way to the meadow. It was a strategic decision: the broad, flat landscape enabled him to see duelists in all directions. So far, he had seen eight, five of which had been Blue Knights, and none of which had been deemed worthy of a challenge. He could tell just by looking at them exactly how seriously they'd take the game.

Bruno sighed. He was becoming conflicted. His brain was telling him to just pick off the weaklings and save the challenges (if they ever came) for the finals, but his gut continued to assure him that his dignity was more valuable than any poker chips.

Just when he was about to side with his brain, he saw her: a beautiful young woman with long black hair down to her waist and big green eyes. Judging by her amber skin and the style of her clothing and snake- and scorpion-themed jewelry, she was Egyptian, and judging by the blue scarf around her neck, she was a Blue Knight. With the way she carried herself, that unmistakable _je ne se qua_, she _had _to be a worthwhile opponent.

Bruno started over to her, but before he could make it ten steps something struck him right in the side of his belly. It didn't hurt much, as it was fairly light and his stomach was rather expansive, but it certainly got his attention. He stared down and was met with a curious sight.

It was a woman—a very, very _old_ woman—sprawled out on the ground. Every visible inch of her skin was covered in deep wrinkles, from her wart-covered face with that overly-long nose to the ends of her gnarled, claw-like fingers. She had a hideous mop of white-grey hair that failed to cover her ears and their grotesque, sagging lobes, and she was dressed in an ugly long-sleeved dress the exact color of dust, a dirty white apron, purple stockings, and sandals. She glared at him with squinty brown eyes from under a furry white unibrow. Like Bruno, she had the mark of a Shadowchaser beneath her right eye.

"Well?" she snarled in a thick Russian accent, holding up a bony arm.

When she opened her mouth, Bruno saw that she had dentures, but not normal ones—these were jet black, made of iron and sharp as knives.

Bruno took her hand and helped her to her feet. She was a little shorter than him, but only because she was painfully hunched.

"Watch where you're going next time!" the old woman barked, brushing herself off.

Bruno frowned. "_You_ bumped into _me_," he told her.

"Don't correct Baba Yaga, boy!" the hag screeched. "Just respect your elders! Do you have any idea who Baba Yaga is?"

Bruno stared hard at the old bat, analyzing every little detail, and his eyes lit up with recognition. He immediately blinked it away and gave her his most condescending smile.

"I haven't a clue," he lied, giving her a wave of his hand. "But I'm guessing your name is 'Baba Yaga'. And I see no reason to respect somebody who doesn't even respect themselves."

Baba Yaga glared at him even harder. "You have a sharp tongue, boy," she growled. "How about Baba Yaga dulls it for you in a duel?"

"You know, Baba Yaga," Bruno languished. "I'd love to—really, I would. But it seems, regrettably, that we are both Shadowchasers, and, as the rules state, are unable to wager in duels against each other."

"Then no wager will be made!" Baba Yaga screamed. "Baba Yaga will take nothing from you but your pride! Baba Yaga does not care about the stakes!"

"But Bruno von Klein does," he replied. "And he's – I'm – not going to waste my time and effort on a boring duel with an annoying opponent for no reward."

Baba Yaga looked ready to bite Bruno in half with those iron teeth, but he just shrugged it off and turned back to the Egyptian woman. Thankfully, she hadn't left. Once again, he started toward her, but Baba Yaga had other plans for him.

"You!" she cried, addressing the Blue Knight. "Girl! Blue Knight!"

The woman turned around and stared at Baba Yaga with those big green eyes, then raised an eyebrow and pointed to herself.

"Yes, you! What is your name?"

The woman smiled and spoke, in a clear, silky voice, "Serket".

"Well, 'Serket', Baba Yaga challenges you to a duel! Do you accept?"

Serket looked Baba Yaga over for a second, sizing her up, then finally shrugged and raised her Duel Disk, a custom model shaped like a scarab beetle. "Very well. I will wager five-hundred Euros. Is this acceptable?"

"Perfect!" Baba Yaga exclaimed, raising her own Disk, the newest generic model with no modifications. "Baba Yaga will crush you!"

Bruno frowned, but then just shrugged his soldiers.

_Might as well watch,_ he thought as the two women put on their D-Gazers and activated their Duel Disks.

**(Baba Yaga: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Serket: 8,000)**

"Baba Yaga will let you take the first move!" the old woman said as they both drew their opening hands.

Serket stared at Baba Yaga, but said nothing as she drew her sixth card. Instead, she simply chose two cards from her hand and slipped them into her Duel Disk.

"I play two cards face-down and end my turn," she reported as the holographic card backs appeared before her.

Baba Yaga gave her a funny look. "What? No Monsters? Are you toying with Baba Yaga? Or are you just that pathetic?"

Serket didn't break eye contact with the old bat. "My turn is over," she said. "Kindly make yours."

"Oh, Baba Yaga will!" the old woman sneered. She drew a card and gave her hand a long, hard look. "Baba Yaga will start by summoning Fire Princess!"

Baba Yaga set the card onto her Disk, and an auburn-haired woman in an orange gown appeared, brandishing a bronze scepter. (1,300 ATK)

_Fire Princess, eh? _Bruno analyzed. _Only one sort of deck uses _that_._

"Fire Princess, attack directly!" Baba Yaga commanded. "Big bang scepter!"

The Fire Princess raised her scepter and shot a fireball from its tip at the Egyptian woman. Serket recoiled slightly, but composed herself immediately.

**(BY: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 6,700)**

"Next, to protect Baba Yaga's Fire Princess, Baba Yaga will activate Level Limit Area B, which will switch all Level Four or higher Monsters on the field to Defense Mode!"

Baba Yaga activated the Spell Card, but Serket seemed to be five steps ahead.

"I won't allow that, Baba Yaga. I will counter your card with Solemn Judgment."

Serket hit a button on her Disk and one of her face-down cards lifted up, revealing a Trap Card with the image of a robed man raising one of his arms high.

"This card negates the activation of your Spell Card and destroys it at the cost of half of my Life Points."

Serket's Life Points took a major dip, and Baba Yaga's card exploded into pixels.

**(BY: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 3,350)**

_Why play Solemn Judgment that early in the duel? _Bruno asked himself as he watched in silence. _Sure, it's useful, but at this juncture the cost is outrageous._

_And if she was going to use it, why didn't she use it to stop her from summoning Fire Princess? Solemn Judgment can negate a summoning…_

"Hmph!" Baba Yaga sneered, once again showing those deadly dentures. "That move cost you more Life Points than it cost Baba Yaga!"

"A controlled loss, I assure you," Serket assured her opponent. "After all, I can't have you halting my attacks."

"Really?" Baba Yaga shot back, making a face that was somehow even uglier than her own. "Well, Baba Yaga will work on that later! Right now, Baba Yaga activates not one, but _two _copies of Goblin Thief!"

She played two more cards, and two fat green goblins appeared on either side of the old woman, both with their hands on giant, empty wheelbarrows.

In a flash, both of the goblins zoomed forward, stopping in front of Serket and grabbing at her Duel Disk, snatching up what looked like tiny gold coins and loading them into the wheelbarrows. Then, just as quickly, they rushed back and dumped the contents onto their master before vanishing, wheelbarrows, coins, and all.

"These cards grant Baba Yaga five-hundred Life Points each, by taking them away from you!"

**(BY: 9,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 2,350)**

"And even better, since Baba Yaga gained Life Points, Baba Yaga's Fire Princess activates her special ability, blasting you for five-hundred points for each increase to Baba Yaga's Life Points!"

The woman in orange raised her scepter once more and shot out two more blasts, which exploded in Serket's face. Still Serket gave no reaction other than a slight flinch.

**(BY: 9,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 1,350)**

"Finally, Baba Yaga sets a card face-down."

The old woman set a card into her Disk, and the face-down hologram materialized in front of her.

"Your move, weakling!"

Serket stared at Baba Yaga with a mixture of pity and boredom, and simply drew her next card.

"Okay, Baba Yaga," she said. "I'll start my turn by activating my other face-down card, Dust Tornado, to destroy your set card."

Serket's face-down card lifted, and a strong wind blew across the field, destroying Baba Yaga's face-down card, which was revealed to be Wall of Revealing Light.

"Hmm," Serket said with a slight smirk. "Worth getting rid of, I suppose. Moving on, I activate Soul Taker, destroying your Fire Princess by granting you an extra thousand Life Points."

She played the card, and a phantom hand extended out of her Duel Disk. It moved over to Fire Princess and reached into her chest, pulling out a glowing orb. The Fire Princess groaned and exploded, and the hand tossed the orb into Baba Yaga's stomach, making her glow for a moment.

**(BY: 10,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 1,350)**

_Okay, _Bruno realized. _She's cleared Baba Yaga's field. She must be planning on winning soon. But how?_

Baba Yaga, on the other hand, clearly wasn't on the same wavelength. Her sneer had grown even cockier.

"So you've cleared Baba Yaga's field!" she ranted. "So what! Thanks to you, Baba Yaga's Life Points are almost ten times yours! And next turn, Baba Yaga will finish you off for good!"

"There won't _be _a next turn, Baba Yaga," Serket replied with the tiniest hint of a laugh. "I'm ending this duel right now."

"Oh, really?" Baba Yaga retorted. "How?"

**0000000000**

Two minutes later, Baba Yaga was flat on her back, and Serket had a new bank roll full of chips.

"Nice duel," Serket told the old woman, but her smug look said otherwise. "Here's some advice… Next time, try a card game more geared for your age bracket…

"…like pinochle."

Bruno just shook his head. None of what happened had surprised him in the least.

"Don't patronize your opponent _now_, Serket," he told the Egyptian woman. "After all, the duel's already over."

Serket looked at him.

"I didn't ask," she said.

Baba Yaga let out a low, guttural growl and leapt to her feet with surprising agility.

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK DOWN TO BABA YAGA!" she screamed. "BABA YAGA IS A MASTER DUELIST! BABA YAGA WILL HAVE HER REVENGE! BABA YAGA WILL CRUSH YOU ALL! BABA YAGA WILL REIGN SURPREME IN THIS TOURNAMENT, AND PROVE ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT BABA YAGA IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH!

"Good-bye!"

With that, Baba Yaga turned and ran away on those bony legs with downright impossible speed for someone of her advanced age, kicking up a dust cloud behind her.

A moment of silence passed between Bruno and Serket before Serket finally broke it.

"Must be past time for her medication," she said. "So, mister…?"

"Bruno," the paunchy Shadowchaser responded. "Bruno von Klein."

_Of all the arrogant, _he thought.

"Uh huh," Serket replied. "Bruno, I noticed the way you were looking at me before. If you want a duel as well, I hope that I can expect more than I got from _that_ one."

Bruno thought about this for a second, but then made his decision.

"No. I would have loved to before, but now that I've seen your deck, there's just not as much of a challenge. I appreciate the offer, though."

"Then maybe we'll meet in the finals," replied Serket.

"Perhaps," Bruno told her, and with that they went their separate ways.

_Boy, a sore loser is bad enough, _he thought, _but a sore winner…_

**0000000000**

Shortly after Baba Yaga's duel had wrapped up, Ace had hiked her way up to a food kiosk not at all far away. It was a combination between a burger stand and a café, a tiny little structure with a clerk behind the front counter and a short-order cook working the grill. Around it were four long picnic tables, which had a single duelist occupying their space. The air carried the scent of fresh-made burgers and coffee, and there was a buzzing cooler filled with every form of cold drink imaginable – well, except for one…

_No tomato juice, _Ace thought with a sigh. _It figures._

Instead, she took a lemonade and turned around. She still hadn't found an opponent. The only other duelist here was hidden behind a laptop and sipping a tall glass of fruit punch. But she could just make out the blue bandana in his long white blonde-highlighted hair.

"Wait a minute!" she exclaimed. In a blur, she dashed over to the mystery man and snatched the computer aside. It was indeed—

"KYON ROKUDAI!" she screamed, but Kyon just met her eyes, smiled, and took another sip of his drink.

"Ah, my sweet Alice," he chuckled. "Astounding that we meet so soon. It must be fate."

"'FATE' NOTHING!" she cried, her cheeks flushing. "You entered this tournament without telling me, didn't you? Why would you do that?"

Kyon shrugged. "I thought it would be a nice little surprise for my sweet cherub. Besides, you know I can't stay away from a challenge, or my true love—though I'll admit they're often the same thing…"

Ace just shook her head and took a swig of lemonade, trying to calm herself down.

"Okay," she said, her voice even. "Well, I see you're a Blue Knight—"

"I am, indeed."

"—and I'm a Shadowchaser—"

"You don't need to remind _me_."

"—then I'm making you my first opponent! Kyon, I challenge you to a duel!"

Kyon stared at her, took another sip of his fruit punch, swallowed, scrunched up his face, looked her in the eye, and finally said one word.

"No."

Ace did an anime fall on the spot.

"Why not?!" she demanded, jumping back up. "You spent all this time training me, and now you're afraid I'll beat you, aren't you?"

Kyon shook his head. "Hardly, Alice. I see you as a worthy challenge, but I still maintain that I will win, and I'd hate to see you lose in your first duel of the tournament, especially to me. It just wouldn't be sporting of me to crush you beneath my foot."

"So no matter what I say, you won't take me on?" Ace asked, her face flushing again.

"Oh, no, my beloved Alice," Kyon replied, going into full poet mode. "We will have our duel—just not today. It's setting up to be such a wonderful tournament, and I'd hate to ruin it for you by ending it too quickly. I'd rather take it slow, allowing us both to enjoy the feel of every precious moment. If we're especially lucky, we may even finish at the same time."

Alice just stared at him, her cheeks now the color of a grapefruit's interior. "You _are _still talking about the tournament, right?" she asked.

Kyon stared right back. "Of course," he said. "What else could I mean?"

Ace opened her mouth to tell him, but before she could get the words out, there was a shout from behind.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON'T HAVE BEER?!"

Ace and Kyon whipped around to see the commotion. The shouter was a satyr, a race of fey that mostly looked human, but had the horns and hind legs of goats. This particular specimen was a tall one in his early twenties, with particularly long horns (with a blue bandana tied around their base), and was dressed in an open letter jacket with no shirt, exposing his thin-but-firm swimmer's body, and a set of tight pants that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. His face, on the other hand, was anything but comical. It was ruggedly handsome, with little green eyes, a bulbous red nose, and a shaggy goatee, but it was twisted into a nasty snarl as he grabbed on to the timid redheaded girl behind the counter.

"I-I'm sorry, sir," the clerk stammered, shaking her head. "B-but as y-you must've heard at the beginning of the tournament, the only alcohol on the island is kept within the castle!"

"No!" the satyr objected. "Jalal said you _could _get alcohol inside the castle! He never said it was forbidden outside!"

"Well, i-it's sort of implied…" the woman whimpered, and the satyr just flared his nostrils.

"This is unbelievable!" he fumed. "I drank my six-pack on the ship! I can't get through three days without so much as a pint! The chicks are already getting uglier! Just look at that one!"

He was pointing at Kyon.

"What?" Kyon sputtered, spitting out some fruit punch. "I'm a man, you drunk!"

"Ugh, sorry, bro," the satyr apologized, holding his forehead. "The dress kinda threw me off."

He turned his head toward Ace. "This dude knows what I'm talking about, though. Isn't that right, bro?"

Ace's face changed from hot pink to bright cherry red, the rage building up until she managed three words.

"I'M A GIRL!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

The satyr looked affronted, but then his bloodshot eyes widened and he spread his arms and began speaking to the entire group.

"THIS IS WHY I NEED ALCOHOL, PEOPLE!" screamed the satyr. "WITHOUT IT, I'M FORCED TO LOOK AT SOMETHING LIKE...(ugh!) _THAT_! AT LEAST WHEN I'M DRUNK, _THAT _COULD BE MODERATELY DOABLE!

"Nothing I'd be proud of, I'll admit, but still, _DOABLE_!"

Ace's face flushed even darker, and her face was now literally steaming.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Kyon raged, taking the satyr's full attention. "Alice is a lovely young woman that any man or Shadow would be lucky to have! You, sir, have crossed the line! I challenge you to a duel!"

Ace was more than a little surprised. As annoying as Kyon was, this was honestly the first time she had seen him get angry.

The satyr just rolled his eyes. "We can't, you tranny! We're both Blue Knights! Besides, I doubt you or your butch girlfriend could ever give me a decent challenge!"

At that moment, something snapped in Kyon, and he found himself doing something he'd only done a few times in his entire life. He threw himself at the satyr with every intent of breaking every one of his bones and leaving no square inch of skin without bruises.

Unfortunately, he didn't have much practice. He knocked the satyr to the ground with two shots, one to the face and one to the stomach, and the fey creature groaned in pain, but the blows had done almost nothing except take the satyr's breath—he hadn't even drawn blood. Before he could continue, though, he found his path blocked by the short-order cook's spatula.

"Please, sir, control yourself!" the clerk spoke up as Kyon panted in rage. "I understand that you're angry, but you must know that Monsieur Martin deplores violence, and, according to the tournament bylaws, any combat other than Duel Monsters will be immediately met with the harshest of penalties. If you make another move, I'll have you disqualified!"

Slowly, as the satyr crawled to his feet, Kyon slowed his breathing and backed away.

"That's a good little drag queen," he laughed as he regained control of his lungs. "Now, since you can't duel me, and you can't fight me, why don't you just take your little butch girlfriend and run along so I can find a _real _opponent!"

By this point Ace's face had gone to the deep reddish-purple of beetroot, her eyes were squeezed so tightly that her eyelids were threatening to tear off, and she was ready to speak up.

"HEY," she screamed. "I CHALLENGE YOU TO A—"

"I challenge you to a duel!" the satyr cried out at the same time.

"I accept!" Ace cried, only to open her eyes and discover that the satyr was pointing in the opposite direction.

Ace's face drained of color from the sheer shock. The satyr hadn't even heard her. He was pointing to a short, plump young man with curly brown hair and a handsome black suit.

The man gave very little reaction to this challenge, but finally he rubbed the back of his hand against the breast of his suit and said "Hmph. You've begun wrong! The first thing to do in a visit is to say 'How d'ye do?' and shake hands!"

Everyone just stared at the strange newcomer, and he shrugged.

"However," he continued. "I'll settle for your name."

The satyr continued to stare, but finally he grunted "Call me McGuinness."

"Very well, 'McGuinness'," the man replied. "You may call me Bruno. And, I suppose that since this entire tournament has been about as exciting as watching paint dry so far, I might as well take an opponent just to get ahead. How much do you believe we should wager?"

McGuinness gave a smile that only a rapist could muster and held up two bankrolls of chips. "I'll wager all one-thousand Euros!" he boasted. "The more I wager, the faster I'll get into that castle and get myself a drink!"

"Go big or go home, eh?" Bruno chuckled. "Hmm…not much of a choice for you. You'll go home either way. Still, a larger wager should at least make this mundane duel a _little _more exciting…"

"Who _is _this guy?" Ace hissed in Kyon's ear as they took their seats back at the picnic table.

"I don't know," Kyon told her as he opened the internet. "But he looks awfully familiar…"

Silently, the two affixed their D-Gazers to their faces and took out their Duel Disks.

McGuinness's was a hot pink model, with a figurine of a naked woman lying on her back on top, the deck slot between her legs. Bruno's had a black body, and the tray was a sharp crescent, like a moon—or maybe a wide grin.

"Let's duel," the duelists said as they drew their hands, though Bruno had considerably less enthusiasm than McGuinness.

**(Bruno: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (McGuinness: 8,000)**

"I'd say 'age before beauty'," Bruno sneered, drawing another card. "But since you have neither, I'll take the first move."

He stared at his hand and selected a card.

"I'll start by activating the Spell Card Stray Lambs!" he declared.

He played the card and two tiny round sheep-things appeared before him, apparently in a deep sleep. (0 DEFx2)

"And next, I'll sacrifice them—"

"Hang on!" McGuinness interrupted. "The effect of Stray Lambs clearly states that you can't Normal or Special Summon any other Monsters on the turn you use it!"

"That's true," Bruno replied, still calm—downright bored, in fact. "But it's what it _doesn't _say that matters. In case you hadn't noticed, there's no rule that says I can't _set _one!

"Now, I sacrifice both of my Lamb Tokens to set a Monster in Defense Mode."

He played the card, and the two lambs vanished to make way for a large horizontal card back.

"And then I'll end my turn with a face-down card."

A face-down card materialized behind the set Monster, and Bruno waved things over to McGuinness.

The satyr growled as he drew and sized up his opponent.

"Hmm," he chortled. "Let me guess: that Monster has a high Attack Score, but only a _reasonable _Defense Score, like most two-tribute Monsters. Which means that if I just power up a Monster enough, I can take it out before it becomes a threat—either that or you're using Spirit Monsters, in which case, even if I suffer its effect, it'll return to your hand later, and you'll have to start all over. Well, either way, I'm taking care of it! I summon Birdface!"

He slapped a card onto the Disk and a Monster flapped into the air. It was either a very humanoid bird or a human in a very convincing bird costume. Either way, it was a beautiful, majestic flying creature with a mixture of blue and gold feathers. (1,600 ATK)

"You call _that_ a powerful attacker?" Bruno said flatly. "Well, at least now I know what kind of deck you use."

"And plenty more!" Kyon exclaimed, looking up from his laptop. "I found all the info on McGuinness on one of his fans' website…

"According to this, he's the captain of the dueling team at the University of Colorado at Boulder, made it to the top four in the college nationals, and has an 88 percent win rate!

"He's also the head of the Sigma Tau Rho frat house and has starred in fourteen pornographic films within the last six months!"

"And his first name is 'Leslie'!" Ace laughed. "Finally, a name I'll have _no _trouble remembering!"

McGuinness was almost as red as Ace was earlier, but he handled it differently. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" he shouted. "SHUT IT OR I'LL CLOBBER YOU BOTH!"

"Oh, calm down, Leslie-boy," Bruno chided, rolling his eyes. "It's not as if they told me your strategy – not that I hadn't already figured it out. Besides, your first name is far less astounding than the fact that _you _actually made it into college. How did a drunk like you manage that, anyway?"

"Hey, you can't spell 'satyr' without 'SAT'," the satyr joked, but then returned to his snarl. "But in all seriousness, we satyrs tend to get in on scholarships."

"'We'?" Ace repeated. "You mean a lot of you get in?"

"Oh, yeah," McGuinness bragged. "We're great at sports, seeing as we've been chasing those speedy nymphs since forever. There are satyrs on every team at my college – baseball, hockey, basketball, curling, lacrosse, football, and, as you can tell by looking at me, dueling. That's why we started up the Sigma Tau Rho frat house—Sigma Tau Rho? Get it? S-T-R? 'Satyr'? Duh!"

"Hmm," Bruno muttered. He didn't seem to be paying much attention. "Whatever. Would you mind finishing your move soon? This duel is bland enough without slowing it down."

McGuinness growled, but then took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Disk's Field Zone. "I activate the Rising Air Current, to empower all of my Wind Monsters!"

A powerful updraft blew across the field, and Birdface stretched his wings and settled himself higher in the air. (1,600/1,600) –) (2,100/1,200)

"Next, I'll set a card face-down, and attack your Monster with ceremonial dive!"

A face-down card appeared behind the Winged Beast, and it rode the updraft up thirty feet in the air, then swooped down at top speed.

Bruno still showed no fear.

"You were right, McGuinness," he admitted. "My Monster does not, in fact, have enough Defense Points to survive this attack—but unfortunately for you, it's not its _Defense _that matters!

"I activate Lobster Quadrille!" he shouted as his face-down card lifted. This Trap Card was different than most, though. Instead of a photocopy of a painted image, it had a black and white drawing – an exact copy of one John Tenniel's famous drawings from Lewis Carroll's famous book, _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_. It depicted the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle dancing around Alice. "This allows me to switch my Monster from face-down Defense Mode to face-up Attack Mode! Prepare for your destruction, McGuinness, for my Monster is…"

Bruno's face-down Monster flipped over, exposing a card with a fearsome creature upon it – and seconds later, that creature stepped onto the field. It was two stories tall, with a forty-foot wingspan, long arms and legs ending in talons, a pear-shaped torso (inexplicably wearing a vest), and a long, serpentine neck leading up to a brutal, squashed-in face with beady little eyes, big buck teeth, and long, furry whiskers.

"The Jabberwock!"

The creature let out a sound that was halfway between a roar and a wheeze as it spread its claws and faced down McGuinness's Monster. (2,600 ATK)

"And since the actual number of Monsters on my field didn't change, your Birdface's attack must continue!

"Jabberwock," he ordered. "Counter-attack his Birdface with merciless flame attack!"

As Birdface swooped down, the Jabberwock opened its mouth wide and released a jet of flame that roasted the Winged Beast like a Thanksgiving turkey.

**(B: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 7,500)**

"Hmph!" McGuinness grunted. "Since you destroyed Birdface in battle, I get to add a Harpie Lady from my deck to my hand!"

The satyr took out his deck and selected a card, then added it to his hand, placed the deck back into his Disk, and let the auto-shuffler do its work.

"End turn."

Bruno rolled his eyes and drew a card. His condescending smile grew even larger.

"Okay, Leslie-boy," he laughed. "It's time for a combo. First, I summon Alice, the Warden of Wonderland."

He played the card, and a new Monster sprang onto the field. It was definitely Carroll's titular character, that sweet little blonde girl with a blue dress and bow, but she had grown up. She was now a teenager, and she had toughened up. She carried a hunting knife, and her expression was downright pissed. (1,300 ATK)

Kyon's jaw hit the picnic table. When he managed to snap his mouth closed again, he snapped his fingers and immediately started typing into his laptop.

"That's it!" he exclaimed. "I _knew _I'd seen this fellow before! Honestly, I don't know how I forgot, considering he uses a warden named 'Alice'!"

Ace raised an eyebrow, but stared over at the laptop's screen. She snarled when she saw the face of the shadar-kai staring back at her.

"'Teodahr the Ascending Star'?!" she gaped, staring at the screen. "Kyon, how could _you_, of all people, be one of _his _fans?!"

The were-ermine's cheeks flushed. "He's a fantastic duelist…"

"Who perverts the Fair Fight Clause toward his own ends!" Ace screamed.

"I have to keep an eye on new talent!" Kyon protested, but it was pretty weak. "Anyway, the video is on here somewhere…I think it's number twelve…"

"Number thirteen," Bruno corrected, shaking his head.

Kyon eyed the German Shadowchaser, but then shrugged and clicked on the link.

A video started up, showing the cocky shadar-kai taking a dramatic pose while Bruno stared at him from across the street.

"Hello, my beloved fans!" he greeted. "This is Teodahr, now known as Teodahr the Ascending Star, bringing you another exciting duel!

"As you can see," he continued, holding up a bag of loot. "I've lifted a small fortune in gold and gems, and am now opposing Shadowchaser Bruno von Klein, who is determined to stop me! Enjoy!"

Kyon clicked again and closed the link.

"Now isn't the time to watch the whole thing, Alice," Kyon told his fellow spectator. "But trust me when I say that it's intense."

Bruno nodded in agreement, his mocking smile now a very serious frown. "No kidding," he said sadly, but then he perked up. "Wait, is he entered in this tournament?"

Kyon raised an eyebrow, then checked the tournament database.

"Nope. No Teodahrs entered. I guess he could be using a fake name, though…"

Bruno shook his head. "No," he said. "He wouldn't do that. Making a name for himself is his mission in life."

Finally McGuinness, who had been watching all this with increasing ire, decided to speak up.

"Yeah, that's _real_ interesting," he sneered in that snide tone. "But in case you forgot, we're in the middle of a duel here! So quit bitching about losing and hoping for a rematch, and finish the duel you're already in!"

Bruno just glanced at the satyr, his sarcastic grin returning, and shook his head sadly. "Yes," he agreed. "Every minute you wait is another moment of forced lucidity, isn't it? Very well, then. I'll increase Alice's power with the Vorpal Blade."

He took a card from his hand and placed it into his Duel Disk. The knife in Alice's hand morphed into a double-edged sword. (1,300 ATK) –) (2,100 ATK)

"In addition to granting her extra attack points, this enchanted sword can sacrifice itself to save Alice from being destroyed by a card's effect—not that it matters right now. Alice, attack directly! Vorpal blade attack!"

Alice nodded and leapt forward, holding her sword aloft, but McGuinness didn't even flinch.

"I activate my Call of the Haunted," he laughed. "Rise again, Birdface!"

The satyr's Trap Card lifted up, and the bird-man hybrid returned to the field, riding the air currents. (1,600/1,600) –) (2,100/1,200)

"Your call, Shadowchaser! Do you sacrifice Alice for a direct attack, or do you let me off with minimal damage?"

Bruno rolled his eyes. "I'll stop Alice's attack," he said, and Alice dropped back to the ground, looking disappointed. "And attack with the Jabberwock instead. Merciless flame attack!"

The ugly creature reared up and, with a howl, unleashed another wave of fire that incinerated Birdface once again.

**(B: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 7,000)**

"Thanks for that," McGuinness snickered, taking out his deck and selecting another card. "Because now I get another Harpie Lady."

"Take all the Harpies you like," Bruno scoffed. "They can't overpower my Jabberwock, and thanks to his ability, you can't attack Alice until he's gone.

"Anyway, I end my turn. Show me what you've got."

"With pleasure," McGuinness snarled, snatching a card from his deck. "I'll start by summoning Harpie Lady 1!"

He slapped the card onto his Duel Disk and a cyclone erupted directly in front of him. When it died down, one of the most iconic Duel Monsters had appeared. It was a woman with long red hair, green, feathery wings on the backs of her arms, and eagle talons for hands and feet. She was dressed anything but modestly, too—just purple see-through tights on her legs and black lingerie underneath, and that was the half of her body that _was _covered. The only thing covering her upper body was a couple of black straps that just barely hid her nipples. Despite this, she showed nothing but confidence and strength as she rode the winds. (1,300/1,400) –) (1,800/1,000)

"And, of course, she grants all Wind Monsters on the field an extra three-hundred Attack Points."

The Harpie Lady smirked and beat her wings twice, rising even higher in the air. (1,800 ATK) –) (2,100 ATK)

Ace and Kyon couldn't help staring at this new Monster. There was something very different about her…

"Doesn't Harpie Lady 1 wear a purple tank top?" Ace asked Kyon. "I've dueled a few Harpie duelists in my time, and I could've sworn that she did…"

"Normally, yeah," McGuinness grunted. "But I only use the original, uncensored releases. That way I can enjoy every moment that they're on the field!"

Ace wrinkled her nose at him. Thanks to those tight pants of his, she could tell quite well that he meant every word. _This guy's worse than Barron!_ she thought.

Bruno, on the other hand, had a much tamer reaction. "Is that all you've got?" he taunted. "Like I said, she still can't get past my Jabberwock."

McGuinness let out a snicker. "Actually, she can. But I'll get to that in a minute. Right now, I'll activate the Spell Card, Harpie Hatching Season!"

He played the card and two pale green eggs appeared on the field, each about three feet tall and two feet around. Within seconds, the eggs began to crack, then completely shattered as two little creatures emerged from them. They looked like miniature Harpie Ladies, with the same wings and talons as Harpie Lady 1. Their bodies hadn't…well…_developed _yet, but there were still pieces of eggshell stuck to their nude forms in places where modesty was required. The only difference in appearance between them was their hair—on the first one, it was short and red, and on the other, long, blue, and worn upward. They both beat their wings a few times, and cautiously took flight on either side of their more mature sister. (0 ATKx2) –) (800 ATKx2)

Ace, Kyon, and even Bruno and his Monsters dropped their jaws when they saw these new creatures, but only Kyon was able to find his voice.

"How did that card even get _released_?!"

"I know, it's weird that I'd bring out such weak Monsters," McGuinness shrugged. "And yeah, there are a lot of conditions –"

"That's not why we're surprised, you freak!" Ace cried, her face back to cherry red.

McGuinness cocked his head. "Then what is it?" he asked.

"Are you kidding?" Bruno snarled. His sarcastic smile had faded away entirely, replaced by one of complete revulsion. "You just summoned two nude underage half-animal girls covered in white goo!"

The satyr responded to this by laughing hysterically. "I know! Isn't this game great?"

Bruno called McGuinness something that one should never say in front of a lady, even if that lady is Ace.

"Like I've never been called _that_ before," the satyr snorted. "Anyway, like I was saying, there are several conditions. In addition to having no original Scores of their own and having to be Special Summoned in Attack Mode, my Harpie Lady Tokens can't be used for tributes or Synchro Summons this turn. Also, _you_ get to draw a card."

Bruno pried his eyes away from the disgusting sight before him and snatched a card from his deck.

_Hm, Morals from the Duchess, _he noted. _This could come in handy later._

"On the plus side, though, they're both treated as real Harpie Ladies, which gives me a lot of possibilities—like this one, for example! Go, Harpie Lady Falcon Formation!"

A Spell Card appeared on the field, one bearing the image of a bird made of green flames within a ring surrounded by strange symbols.

The Harpies on the field were engulfed in a bright green fire, and the Harpie Lady Tokens moved back a few feet.

"Remember when I said that I'd get past your Jabberwock?" McGuinness cackled. "Well, this card allows my Harpies to attack you directly this turn! Harpies, attack with scratch clash!"

Nodding, the three Harpies simultaneously flapped their wings and soared high above the field, then dropped and raked their foot talons across Bruno's face one by one as the flames died down.

Bruno stumbled back as his Life Points fell. The younger Harpies may have had smaller talons, but they were every bit as sharp as the adult's.

**(B: 5,900) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 7,000)**

"I'm assuming their Attack Scores were reduced during the attacks?" Bruno guessed as he regained his composure and checked his Life Points.

"That's right," McGuinness admitted. "Each of them only gets seven-hundred Attack Points during the assault. Still, I got past your Jabberwock.

"I'll end my turn by placing a card face-down. Watch yourself, Bruno—next turn, you're finished!"

"Is he kidding?" Ace asked Kyon, staring at the field. "Leslie may have gotten some damage in, but Brian's got much tougher Monsters! How could he topple them that easily? Do you think he's going to use Phoenix Formation?"

"Absolutely not," Kyon replied, shaking his head. "That card has been banned since before we were born. But there are _other _possibilities…"

"I'll take your challenge head-on," Bruno sighed. "Alice, Jabberwock, destroy those Tokens!"

Alice leapt forward, and the Jabberwock sent out another jet of flame.

"Not a chance!" McGuinness sneered. "Activate Harpie Lady Sparrow Formation!"

The satyr's Trap lifted, revealing an image exactly like that of Falcon Formation, except that in this one, the bird was made of _orange _fire.

The Harpies didn't miss a beat. They clustered together and ignited an orange flame around their bodies.

"This card protects my Harpies from your attacks and automatically ends your Battle Phase!" McGuinness declared as the attacks glanced off of the fiery bird. "Looks like your attack was a waste."

"Not really," Bruno said with a shrug. "I knew what your face-down card was going in. I just needed to get you to use it up.

"Now, let's see if _you _can guess what _this _might be," he said, playing a card face-down on the field. "Make your move, if you dare, Leslie-boy."

McGuinness growled and drew another card. "Oh, you are in for it! I'm pulling out one of my ultimate combos! I summon Harpies Pet Baby Dragon!"

With a high-pitched screech, a new Monster appeared in front of his Harpies. It was a dragon, obviously, and about the size of a small car, and it was wearing a silver tiara and gold collar. It was bright red in color, with big, leathery wings, foot-long claws…and big, lovable green eyes. It let out a sweet chirp and flapped its wings, trying to take off, but it was too heavy to leave the ground. (1,200/600) –) (2,000/200)

"He may seem young and helpless, but –"

"I know his abilities," Bruno interrupted. "You don't need to tell me."

"Don't care, I'm doing it, anyway!" McGuinness snapped. "You see, if I have one Harpie Lady on the field, he lures all of your attacks toward himself."

A gold chain leash magically appeared on the Dragon's collar, and the redheaded Token grabbed on to it, then snapped it in her hand. The Pet Dragon reared up and spread its wings in front of its masters.

"If I have two, its original Attack and Defense Scores double."

Another leash materialized, and was immediately seized by the blue-haired Token. She and the other Token snapped their leashes together and the Pet Baby Dragon let out a vicious snarl. (2,000/200) –) (3,200/800)

"And when I have three, he can destroy one card on your field with each passing turn!"

A third chain appeared, and Harpie Lady 1 took it, flying up a little and forcing the Dragon to raise its head.

"Now," McGuinness said thoughtfully, putting a hand to his chin. "Which one to destroy? Let's see… Alice is the weakest Monster on your field, and she only ties with my Harpie Lady 1, but if I tried to destroy her with my Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon, her sword would take the fall instead. Of course, it _would _weaken her…

"Then there's that Jabberwock. It has the most Attack Points, and I can't get to Alice unless I clear him out first. If I destroyed him, I could inflict maximum damage.

"But then there's that face-down card. If it stops my attacks, you might find a way to weaken my Dragon enough to destroy it, or even destroy it as soon as it attacks. Plus, I'll only be able to destroy your Jabberwock and do a few points of damage this turn if I want to keep all my Harpies. This _is _a puzzle…"

"You think he realizes he just said all that out loud?" Ace whispered in Kyon's ear.

"Probably not," the were-ermine replied in a hushed tone. "This may well be the first time in months he's been completely sober, and the stress may be affecting his strategy."

"Okay," McGuinness announced. "I've made my decision. Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon, use your ability to destroy…the Jabberwock!"

All three of the Harpies yanked on their individual leashes in perfect unison, and their pet rose up. They guided its line of sight to Bruno's grotesque Monster, and jerked the chains once again. The no-longer-cuddly Pet Baby Dragon let out a low grumble and conjured a ball of pink energy within its mouth, then fired it at the Jabberwock.

With a pathetic screech, the Jabberwock exploded into triangles.

"And now, my Dragon," the satyr ordered. "Attack Alice, the Warden of Wonderland! Saint fire giga!"

Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon conjured another orb of energy, but before it could be launched, Bruno let out a cruel laugh of his own.

"Unbelievable!" he snickered. "You actually fell for it! I had a feeling you were dumb enough, but I at least still had _some _hope for your intelligence!"

McGuinness's face fell. "What do you mean?!" he snarled.

"I _mean _that I _knew _you would destroy my Jabberwock! You Harpie duelists are all the same, always fearing that your opponent will bring out a Monster strong enough to topple one of your Monsters and wipe out the rest via the domino-like nature of your setup! All you ever focused on was doing the maximum amount of damage in one turn! It barely even occurred to you to plan ahead! Well, now you're going to regret it, because I'm activating my Trap Card! Go, Caucus-Race!"

Bruno's Trap lifted up, showing yet another Tenniel illustration, this one of the Dodo presenting Alice with a thimble as a bunch of other animals looked on.

"This card forces every one of your Monsters to attack this turn—but _I _choose the order in which they strike!"

"What?!" McGuinness gasped. "No! You can't!"

"I can and I did! I'm going to tear your combo apart piece by piece! Now, let's start things off with an attack from your brunette Token!"

The blue-haired Harpie Lady Token let go of the Dragon's leash, then flapped herself forward and landed, staring down the Warden of Wonderland like they were in an Old West showdown.

"Of course," Bruno continued, his smirk growing even bigger. "It wouldn't be any fun if you didn't even have a sporting chance. That's where Alice's ability comes in."

"And that is?" McGuinness snapped.

"When she's attacked by a Monster with two-thousand or less Attack Points, she has a fifty-fifty chance of dodging it entirely. If she dodges your Harpies, they won't be destroyed, and your Dragon will keep its strength. Now, high or low?"

"What do you mean? The Token's Attack Power is low! That's why Alice's ability has to activate! You just said that!"

"I wasn't talking to _you_," the German Shadowchaser sighed. "I was talking to Alice. She and I both know that unarmed Harpies have two methods of attack: They can soar high into the air and dive-bomb the enemy, or they can launch themselves forward and slash them apart. If I guess it will come from high, Alice will crouch down with her sword aloft. If I assume it'll come from low, she'll jump. If I'm right, she'll avoid the attack. If I'm wrong, she'll counterattack. It's all a matter of luck.

"Now, let's see," he pondered, before reaching a decision. "Alice, prepare for an attack from above!"

The Warden of Wonderland nodded and crouched down on the grass, being careful not to stain her dress. McGuinness began to sweat, and finally let out a groan when the Harpie Lady Token moved straight forward to its demise.

**(B: 5,900) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 5,700)**

"Lucky me," Bruno chortled as Alice got to her feet. "With that one move, my comeback is already assured. But why not push the envelope even more? I declare that the next attack will come from your second Harpie Lady Token! Alice, prepare for a ground-based attack!"

Alice nodded and leapt into the air—just as the second Harpie Token did the same, and got the reward of being slashed in half by the Vorpal Blade.

**(B: 5,900) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 4,400)**

"Excellent!" Bruno exclaimed. "Now, not only have I horrifically damaged your Life Points, but I've also eliminated two of your Harpies! And, because you now have only a single Harpie on your field, your Pet Baby Dragon loses its power boost!"

He was right. With two of its demanding masters gone, the Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon had calmed down. It actually looked cute again. (3,200/800) –) (2,000/200)

"And now, to test my luck again! It's your Dragon's turn—but will it attack with its claws, or with its saint fire giga? I say…saint fire giga!"

Alice sprinted across the field and situated herself directly beneath the Dragon's throat. In response, the Dragon raised its claws…

One, two! One, two! And through and through the Vorpal Blade went snicker-snack! She left it dead, and with its head she went galumphing back.

**(B: 5,900) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 4,300)**

"UNBELIEVABLE!" Bruno cheered, now ecstatic. "I never guessed I would have such a run of luck! My real plan was to destroy just _one _of your Tokens and suicide Alice against your Harpie Lady 1 to weaken your Dragon, then take the Dragon's attack and counter on the next turn, but this…this was just too easy!"

Kyon's eyes went wide. "What?" he whimpered. "He'd intentionally send that wonderful creature to her death?"

"Oh, get over it, Kyon," Ace grumbled.

Kyon looked her in the eye and his frown grew even larger. "Really, Alice?" he asked. "I would've thought that you, of all people, would enjoy seeing a Monster who happens to be a warden named 'Alice'."

Ace snorted. "Think again. I always hated those books."

Bruno sent a disapproving glance Ace's way, but she waved him off and kept talking.

"I mean, it's nothing against Brian here, but Alice was such a priss! Her idea of fun was making daisy chains, having tea parties, and playing croquet—the lofty heights of boring activities. I never could relate."

"I guess I see your point of view," Bruno said with a sigh. "It probably would be annoying to share a name with a character you dislike.

"Still… I do seem to remember a movie that was released in more recent times where Alice may well have redeemed herself in your eyes…

"But anyway… Perhaps you'll enjoy this next part."

Bruno looked at his opponent.

"McGuinness," he called out. Apparently, the alcoholic satyr had zoned out for a second, because he hadn't spoken or moved since his Dragon was destroyed. "Your Battle Phase is not yet over. Your Harpie Lady 1 still has to attack!"

The satyr winced as his last Harpie flew across the field. At the same time, Alice ran forward to meet her head-on. Alice stabbed the Harpie Lady in the heart with the Vorpal Blade, while Harpie Lady 1 did the same to Alice with her talons. The end result was both Monsters being destroyed and leaving the gusty field completely empty.

"I-I can't believe it…" McGuinness murmured. "My entire combo, destroyed in a single turn! It's impossible!"

"If it was impossible, it wouldn't have happened," Bruno shot back. "But it did, and now you're defenseless. And it gets better—you see, this entire time, I've been holding back!"

Ace, Kyon, and especially McGuinness all just stared in stunned silence.

"That's right. I could've made that last move go about ten times as smoothly, but instead I chose to hold back, just to keep the game interesting, and, thanks to an abundance of luck, it was still so easy that it was sad. Now I'm afraid I have no choice—I'm going to set myself a handicap."

"A handicap?" McGuinness echoed.

"That's right. I've officially become so bored that the only way to ensure any level of thrill is to set myself a disadvantage. So, from this point on, I will only summon Monsters in Attack Mode—no setting them or Special Summoning them in Defense. I'll stand up to the ever-increasing power of your Harpies without batting an eye. In fact, I'll make you a promise right now: If I go back on my claim (without you using an effect that outright _forces _me to summon a Monster in Defense), I'll forfeit the duel right then and there and hand over all of my chips."

The color drained from McGuinness's face, but he put on a brave expression and bared his teeth. "You're an idiot, you know that, tubby?" he roared. "An idiot and a liar! You think I actually believe you haven't been giving it your all? That you've really been holding back for no reason other than to entertain yourself? Please! You're a helpless loser who got lucky once! That's all! And soon enough, you'll see my _real _winning strategy, and your own little handicap will be your undoing!"

Bruno just let out a yawn. "Are you going to end your turn or not?"

McGuinness said nothing, but nodded, still glaring daggers at his opponent.

Kyon, meanwhile, had been taking in this entire conversation with the greatest of interest. "He's brilliant," he breathed.

"Who, Brian?" Ace asked. "Why? His bluff totally failed! Leslie's not even scared."

"Yes, he is," Kyon assured her. "I can tell. And I don't think Bruno was bluffing. I really think he's been holding back. But what's really impressive is his strategy—not the way he uses his cards, but the way he acts. A lot of the game is psychology, after all, and he knows that quite well. By waiting until just after an amazing turnaround on his part to mention it, he's completely demoralized his opponent. Leslie may be putting up a tough façade, but inside he's scared out of his wits!"

"That may be true," Ace replied with a scowl. "But there's something about Brian that I _really _don't like! I can't place it, but something about him creeps me out!"

Throughout all this, Bruno chuckled as he drew a card, and his grin managed to grow even broader.

"Well, Leslie-boy," he announced. "You're about to receive a great privilege. I'm going to treat you to something very special – a card for which I searched long and hard."

"Heh," McGuinness snickered. "'Long and hard'."

Bruno rolled his eyes. "What are you, twelve?" he asked. "Anyway, it took me months to track down this card, but it was well worth it—my deck now churns with a new power, one that makes it even greater!

"But first, I summon Tweedledee."

He placed the card he had just drawn in his hand and chose another, setting it onto the Disk, causing a plump little man in an orange and purple schoolboy uniform and beanie hat to somersault onto the field. (1,600 ATK)

"And, for the small price of eight-hundred Life Points, he allows me to Special Summon Tweedledum."

Another schoolboy sprang forth. He appeared to be identical to Tweedledee at first glance, but upon looking closer it was obvious that they were mirror images. (1,800 ATK)

"And now," Bruno chuckled. "It's time for your promised treat. I activate Foolish Burial, to discard a Monster from my deck and send it straight to the Graveyard!"

Bruno took out his deck and selected a card, then placed the deck back into the Duel Disk before holding the chosen card to the sky.

"And I choose this one: Alice in Despairland!"

He placed the card into the Graveyard, and a dark aura erupted from his Duel Disk as a ghostly form flew out. It was the girl from Bruno's dream, a preteen girl with enormous, staring eyes, long white hair, and Gothic Lolita style clothing. She cast an eager glance around the field.

"And the creepy meter goes up another notch," Ace muttered.

"And, uh, why exactly did you do that?" McGuinness inquired, trembling slightly at the sight of this creepy little ghost girl.

"Why, because of her special ability, of course," his opponent explained. "As long as Alice in Despairland is in my Graveyard, all Dark Monsters on my field gain two-hundred Attack Points."

Alice nodded and raised both of her hands, pointing at the chubby twins in front of her. Like Bruno's Duel Disk, they too were enveloped by the dark aura, though not as completely. Slowly, the twins fought Alice's power, but soon it overwhelmed them. They slouched down and their expressions hardened. (1,600 ATK) –) (1,800 ATK) (1,800 ATK) –) (2,000 ATK)

"And now, my twins," Bruno commanded. "Attack directly!"

Tweedledum and Tweedledee snickered to themselves, then bounded forward and swerved off in opposite reactions. Then, before McGuinness could even react, they slammed into him from both sides, squashing him between them.

**(B: 5,100) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 500)**

"You're on the ropes now, McGuinness," Bruno jeered as his opponent struggled to regain his composure. "And if my luck holds out, I'll finish you right now! I activate the Spell Card, Morals from the Duchess!"

He inserted one of his last two cards into his Duel Disk, and the Spell Card's image appeared on the field. It was another Tenniel illustration, this one of Alice standing beside a disturbingly ugly woman while holding a flamingo.

"Now, Leslie-boy, you have to show me the top card on your deck, and depending on what kind of card it is, an effect will activate—and if it's a Trap Card, you're finished!"

McGuinness was practically drowning in his own sweat. Cautiously, as if reaching to grab a rabid animal, he touched the top card from his deck, then picked it up and sighed in relief before turning it around.

It was Elegant Egotist, a Spell Card.

Bruno sighed, bored. "Ah, well. I guess it won't end for you _this _turn. A Spell Card means that both of us shuffle our decks – that includes that Elegant Egotist card, by the way—and then we each gain one-thousand Life Points."

"Jackpot!" McGuinness replied, pumping his fist. "It looks like your luck's finally turning!"

Bruno just shook his head as McGuinness returned the card to his deck and they both let the auto-shufflers do their work, then waved his hand to signal the end of his turn.

**(B: 6,100) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 1,500)**

McGuinness drew his card and smiled. "Okay, buddy," he taunted. "It's time for me to make my comeback! I summon Cyber Harpie Lady!"

With a loud screech, another Monster appeared before the satyr. It looked exactly like Harpie Lady 1, but this one was wearing a cybernetic breastplate with spikes on the nipples, and was holding a whip that crackled with electricity. (1,800/1,300) –) (2,300/900)

"Attack the weaker twin, my Harpie! Whip him good with electro-whiplash attack!"

The armored bird-woman hybrid brandished her whip and cackled struck Tweedledee in the chest, electrifying him until he exploded into pixels.

**(B: 5,600) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 1,500)**

"And to continue my turn, I'll discard Harpie Queen from my hand, which allows me to take a copy of Harpies' Hunting Ground from my deck!"

He slipped a card from his hand into his Graveyard, then took out his deck, took yet another card, and returned the deck to the Duel Disk to be shuffled.

"And finally, I'll play a face-down and end my turn. Hit me with your best shot, Shadowchaser!"

"Huh," Ace murmured, staring at the new face-down card. "He discarded his stronger Harpie for a Field Spell that he didn't even use. I guess that means it's pretty obvious what that face-down card is, eh, Kyon?"

"Definitely," the were-ermine answered. "And I get the feeling that Bruno knows, too."

"Indeed he does," Bruno confirmed with a laugh. "But why not play along, anyway? I'll just summon Humpty Dumpty to the field."

In a flash of light, a massive egg, about the same size as the ones that had spawned the Harpie Lady Tokens, appeared on Bruno's field, but this one was far more interesting. It had beady little eyes, a wide grinning mouth, spindly little arms and legs, and he was dressed in the clothing of a British nobleman. As he leapt up to stare down his opponent, Alice in Despairland cast her spell. Humpty Dumpty was overwhelmed by the dark energy. His kind eyes narrowed, and his goofy smile became an ugly sneer. (2,300 ATK) –) (2,500 ATK)

"Your chicken may have come first, but my egg's going to break the cycle! Humpty Dumpty, attack Cyber Harpie Lady with your spinning leap!"

The massive egg crouched down on his little legs, then steeled himself and jumped high into the air, somersaulting head-over-heels as he smashed down into the armored Harpie, crushing her.

**(B: 5,600) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 1,300)**

In a second, the formerly comical egg got to his feet, only to discover that there were cracks all over the side of his face, and yolk was beginning to leak out.

"Of course, Humpty Dumpty moves to Defense Mode after he attacks," Bruno shrugged as his Monster limped back to his field and curled up. (0 DEF)

"Ha!" McGuinness suddenly shouted. "That means you lose! You said that if you defended, you'd automatically forfeit the duel!"

Bruno rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Wrong again, Leslie-boy. I said I would no longer place Monsters upon the field in Defense Mode. I played Humpty Dumpty in Attack Mode—he just happened to _move _to Defense Mode later. I haven't broken my promise."

McGuinness's mouth snapped shut. He just crossed his arms and scowled.

"Anyway, I'll just continue playing along. Tweedledum, attack directly with battle rattle!"

Tweedledum nodded and pulled a comically large blue baby rattle with an enormous dent upon it from his pocket, then ran forward with the clear intention of cracking open McGuinness's skull.

"As if!" the satyr growled. "I activate my favorite Trap Card! Go, Hysteric Party!"

McGuinness's Trap Card lifted up, and a thick fog spilled from it and spread around the field, blowing this way and that in the air currents. Loud punk rock assaulted Bruno's eardrums, and lasers in every color of the rainbow shot around the field.

"Ah, this reminds me of the house Halloween party last year!" he laughed. "Babes, booze, and blow. So much blow. And it was good. Man, Bobo really knew where to get the best stuff. I mean, even the usual supply was great, but this—I mean, everyone in the house was completely…what was I saying?"

"You were activating Hysteric Party," Bruno reported.

"Oh, right. Now, for the price of one currently worthless card in my hand, I can Special Summon every single Harpie Lady in my Graveyard! So, let's welcome back Harpie Lady 1, Cyber Harpie Lady, and, since she's treated as a Harpie Lady when on the field or in the Graveyard, Harpie Queen!"

Harpie Lady 1 and Cyber Harpie materialized on the field, delighting in the music and light, along with a new Winged Beast. This Harpie had white wings and long green hair worn in a ponytail down past her waist. Like the others, she was scantily clad—just a black spandex costume with more gaps and holes than actual substance and a silver tiara in her hair. All three of the Harpies took to the air and brandished their talons. (1,300/1,400) –) (2,100/1000) (1,800/1,300) –) (2,600/900) (1,900/1,200) –) (2,700/800)

"Eh," Bruno sighed, rolling his eyes. "Saw it coming a mile away."

Ace and Kyon nodded in agreement, much to McGuinness's chagrin.

"Well," the satyr barked. "Even if you _did _see it coming, there's nothing you can do about it! Even if you halted your Monster's attack, you still can't switch him to Defense Mode this turn, so you're stuck with the extra damage!"

"You're right," Bruno agreed. "I end my turn. Do your worst."

"Oh, don't worry," McGuinness sneered as he drew his card. "I will. Harpie Lady 1, wipe out his Humpty Dumpty! Cyber Harpie Lady, take out Tweedledum! And Harpie Queen, strike him directly!"

The Harpies squealed with glee and took to the air. Harpie Lady 1 seized Humpty Dumpty by his arms and flung him up, leaving him to fall and shatter against the ground. Cyber Harpie Lady electrocuted Tweedledum with her electric whip. And Harpie Queen raked her talons across Bruno's face, sending him stumbling back.

**(B: 2,300) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 1,300)**

"How do you like that, huh?" McGuinness taunted. "Outnumbered, outmaneuvered, and outmatched—and my turn's not even done!"

"It's not?!" Kyon gasped.

"What's left to be done?" Bruno asked.

"Oh, so I've finally taken you by surprise, eh?" the satyr jeered. "Well, watch and learn! I activate the Spell Card, Harpie Lady Peahen Formation!"

"'Peahen Formation'?" Bruno repeated. "I've…I've actually never heard of that one…"

"Well, you're about to see it in action!" the satyr cackled. He slipped the card into his Duel Disk, and the Spell Card's hologram appeared. Its image had the same background as the Falcon and Sparrow Formations, but this bird was made of purple fire, and it had a big fan of feathers on its tail. The Harpies lined up and were engulfed in violet flames, once again forming the bird shape on the card.

"Isn't that a pea_cock_?" Ace asked, staring at this strange sight. "I mean, peacocks are the boys and peahens are the girls, right? And the boys are the ones that put on displays to attract mates, while the girls look really drab to hide while nesting. Am I getting that right?"

"Yes, that's all correct," Kyon told her, furrowing his brow in thought. "But that mistake might have been intentional…"

"I don't know _what _you're talking about, were-weasel," McGuinness growled. "But thanks to this Spell Card, the Levels of all three of my Harpies increase by 2!"

The purple fire went out, and when the Harpies reappeared, their wings had turned bright purple, and they had sprouted fans of tail feathers.

"Increasing the Levels of three Monsters from four to six?" Bruno analyzed, frowning just slightly. "That can only mean one thing…"

"That's right!" McGuinness boasted. "I'll use my three Level 6 Monsters to construct the Overlay Network!"

Harpie Lady 1, Cyber Harpie Lady, and Harpie Queen rose up higher into the air and combined themselves into a swirling vortex of energy.

"Now, I Xyz Summon my favorite Monster! Appear before me, Harpie Empress!"

The vortex dispersed, and everyone gaped at the new Monster materialized. It was another Harpie, this one with purple wings and a silver tiara in the long blonde hair that went down to her waist, and she was dressed in a bright purple bustier, making her double D cups look even bigger, and leggings like the Harpie Queen's, with a fan of feathers behind her. She stared down at her opponent through the eyeholes of a feathery purple Mardi Gras mask, curled up her lipsticked lips, and brandished a thorn-covered whip in her talons and three green balls of light orbited around her. (2,600/2,800) –) (3,100/2,400)

There was a moment of awed silence, but Kyon finally broke it with an exclamation.

"I knew it! I knew it wasn't a coincidence! The Japanese word for 'peahen' is 'kujaku'!"

Indeed, the Harpie Empress was a dead ringer for the original Harpie Duelist and Duelist Kingdom runner-up, Kujaku Mai.

"I cannot believe that this card exists," Bruno commented. "I really can't. It's just impossible. There's no way, no way in Hell that Kujaku Mai would agree to this masochist's fantasy!"

"Believe it," McGuinness shot back. "It's a great honor to be made into a card, after all, and I'll bet that Mai jumped at the chance.

"As for how it looks, what's to complain about? Who doesn't love beautiful women? Well, who besides the tranny were-weasel," he added, nodding toward Kyon. "Besides, I'm betting that Pegasus was into some pretty weird stuff, considering some of the cards he created. Toon Dark Magician Girl, anyone? Also, I heard a rumor a few days ago that he dated Lady Gaga!"

Ace and Kyon were steamed enough at this last speech.

"Where did you hear _that?" _shouted Ace. "From _National Enquirer?"_

As angry as she was, Bruno was apoplectic.

"Pegasus was a loyal, loving man!" he raged, surprised at the words coming out of his own mouth, as well as their intensity. "He was only attracted to a single woman in his entire life, and that was for her heart, not her body!"

Ace, Kyon, and McGuinness just stared at this spectacle, until Ace offered an alternative opinion.

"Plus, you know, considering recent events, I really don't think Pegasus himself designed the card," she pointed out, and all four of the duelists nodded.

"Well, whatever the reason for how this card became what it is, it certainly _is_, and that's what matters," McGuinness shrugged. "And she comes with a bunch of useful abilities.

"First of all, she's treated as a Harpie Lady when she's on the field or in the Graveyard, which works well with her second ability—one that grants all Harpie Ladies on my field three-hundred Attack Points for _every _Harpie Lady on the field!"

High above the field, the Harpie Empress spread her wings with pride and flaunted her talons. (3,100 ATK) –) (3,400 ATK)

"And finally, there's her greatest ability of all—one that, once per turn, allows me to remove one of her Overlay Units, like so –"

The satyr removed one of the cards underneath his Harpie Empress and slid it into the Graveyard. One of the green orbs around his Xyz Monster flew downward into the ground and created a narrow shaft in the ground.

"She can revive a Level 4 or lower Wind-Attribute Monster to my field—even the one I just sent there!"

The Harpie Empress smiled and aimed her whip into the shaft. When she pulled it back up, a Monster was clinging to the end with its talons.

"So give a warm welcome for my returning Harpie Lady 1! In fact, let's give her a present—like some extra Attack Points from my three-card powerup combo!"

With assistance from the updrafts in the Rising Air Current, the Monster (which was indeed Harpy Lady 1) was brought all the way up and began performing loop-de-loops in celebration, completely drunk on her new power. (1,300/1,400) –) (2,700/1,000)

"And because I have another Harpie on the field, my Empress powers up as well—even more than usual since it's Harpie Lady 1!"

The Harpie Empress let out a laugh as her strength grew even greater. (3,400 ATK) –) (4,000 ATK)

"Be lucky I already ended my Battle Phase this turn. As it is, I'll just set my last card face-down, just in case, and end my turn.

"Oh, and remember your boast, Bruno," he sneered. "You can't put any Monsters on the field in Defense Mode!"

"I remember," Bruno replied, drawing a card. "And I don't plan to.

"As for my move, I'll start by activating Akashic Record. This allows me to draw two cards, but if I've used either of them in this duel before, they'll both be banished."

He played the card and drew two from his deck, then smiled and held them up for McGuinness to see. One was a low-Level Effect Monster, and the other was a Field Spell with another Tenniel illustration.

"As you can see, these are both new, and exactly what I need to boot. If all goes well, I'll win on this turn."

"You're lying!" McGuinness accused, but Bruno shook his head.

"No, Leslie-boy, I'm entirely serious. I'll start by activating the ability of my Sleepy Dormouse, discarding it from my hand to take one of three Monsters from my deck."

He discarded the card and took out his deck, then chose a card and returned the deck to be shuffled.

"And now I'll summon it. Come forth, Mad Hatter!"

A new Monster materialized on the field: A little man with a big nose and polka-dotted bow tie and an even bigger green top hat with a piece of paper tucked in the side that said "**IN THIS STYLE: 10/6**". He bowed low and took off his hat, exposing a teacup on a saucer underneath. He grabbed the teacup in his other hand and took a sip. (1,800 ATK)

"And since he's a Dark Monster, he gains a power boost from my Alice in Despairland."

Alice cast her spell once again, and the Hatter stopped drinking, then angrily threw his teacup to the ground, shattering it at Harpie Empress's feet. He put on an expression of sadistic glee and returned the hat to his head, this time at a precarious angle. (1,800 ATK) –) (2,000 ATK)

McGuinness let out another snicker. "_He's _your saving grace?" he jeered as the Hatter sent a scowl his way.

"No, he's just the bearer of the gift," Bruno replied in an offhand fashion. "But soon he'll defeat you by taking away the source of your Harpies' strength."

"The source?" Kyon asked, cocking his head.

"You mean his Empress?" Ace guessed.

Bruno shook his head. "Not at all. You see, the power of the Harpie strategy is the power of the tribe—solidarity. Harpies gain power from each other because they are Harpies. Just like Amazonesses, Six Samurai, and even Ojamas—and I'm about to play a card that strikes terror into the hearts of every one of them."

The Field Spell slot on Bruno's Duel Disk opened up, and he gently placed a card within.

"I pay one-thousand Life Points to activate the Field Spell, Forest of Anonymity!"

The powerful updrafts on the field died down, and McGuinness's Harpies gently descended, disappointed, as the terrain altered around them. What was once a small hill overlooking a meadow was now a lush forest, and a thick fog wrapped itself around the faces of every Monster on the field, and, out of nowhere, McGuinness's Monsters' Attack Scores suffered a severe drop. (2,700/1,000) –) (1,600/1,400) (4,000/2,400) –) (2,900/2,800)

"What have you done to my Harpies?!" McGuinness demanded, clenching his fists.

Bruno smirked. "They're not Harpies. Not anymore. You see, in addition to displacing your Rising Air Current, my Forest of Anonymity provides a very useful service. Within the Forest of Anonymity, unless a Monster's name happens to be 'Alice, the Warden of Wonderland', their name becomes meaningless. While in here, every Monster's name is simply…a question mark."

"A question mark'?" Ace echoed.

"A question mark," Bruno confirmed. "And, since there are no longer any Harpies on the field, your Empress's ability to empower them is meaningless.

"And now, for the killing blow, I'll equip what was once my Mad Hatter with Chthonian Alliance, increasing his Attack Score by eight-hundred for every Monster on the field with the same name as him—and I see two."

He played the card, and what used to be the Mad Hatter glowed with a purple light. (2,000 ATK) –) (3,600 ATK)

"Finish him off, my Monster!" Bruno ordered. "Attack his weaker Monster!"

Bruno's Warrior opened his dinner jacket and pulled out a steaming teapot. With a snigger, he threw it at what was once Harpie Lady 1.

"Hang on!" McGuinness objected, his voice panicky as his face-down card lifted up. "I activate Staunch Defender, switching the target of your attack to my Harpie Empress!"

"You mean your stronger question mark," Bruno corrected with a smile.

"Yeah, that."

In the middle of the toss, the teapot completely changed direction, smashing into what was once the Harpie Empress and coating her in the scalding-hot liquid. The homage to Kujaku Mai screamed in agony before finally exploding into triangles.

**(B: 1,300) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 600)**

McGuinness glared daggers at Bruno, panting heavily and sweating profusely. "I may have lost my Empress," he admitted. "But I'm still in this."

"Barely," Bruno taunted. "I've taken away the source of your Harpies' strength. And I'm betting that the majority of cards in your deck are Harpie support, and that you probably have no more than a single Field Spell left."

"It's not over 'til it's over!" the satyr insisted. "I've still got a few moves left that'll win this for me!"

"Whatever. Since my Monster destroyed one of yours, there's one less Monster on the field with the same name as him, so his Attack Points drop a little."

The glow around what used to be the Mad Hatter dimmed a little. (3,600 ATK) –) (2,800 ATK)

"End turn."

"My, this really has been an excellent match," Kyon commented, scratching his chin. "But I think Bruno has this just about locked up. Don't you agree, my dear?"

"Eh, Leslie's a jerk and Brian royally creeps me out," replied Ace. "Isn't there a way they can both lose?"

"Of course," Kyon told her. "But then they'd both be in the tournament even longer."

"On second thought, go Brian!"

McGuinness, meanwhile, simply drew a card and immediately set it into his Duel Disk without a word, then waved a hand to end his turn.

"Finally stunned into silence, eh?" Bruno guessed as he drew his card. "If only it had happened sooner…well, whatever. Now it's time to activate my Monster's effect. You see, during each of my Standby Phases, the Hatter (even if he can no longer be called such) selects one of six different hats to wear for the turn, and each one gives him a different ability—and if it's a five, I'll win this turn."

Bruno's Monster removed his hat, reached a hand deep within it, and pulled with all of his might. With a loud "POP!", the hat turned inside-out, magically changing into a black tri-corner with a red number 6 on the front.

"A six, eh?" Bruno said with a sigh. "Oh, well."

"What does a six mean?" McGuinness asked, twitching slightly.

"It means I have to destroy a Spell or Trap Card on my side of the field. So I'll destroy my Chthonian Alliance."

The has-been Hatter lifted the hat and spun around like he was in a shotput competition, finally throwing it straight at his own Equip Spell. The hat smashed right through and returned like a boomerang, and the ex-Hatter eagerly returned it to his head. (2,800 ATK) –) (2,000 ATK)

"But it's of no importance, because I'm sacrificing my Hatter to summon Wasp in a Wig."

He gently placed the card on the Duel Disk and the ex-Hatter vanished into motes of light, then was replaced by a very strange figure: a creature with the body of an old man dressed in a puffy shirt and brown slacks, but with the head and wings of a ferocious wasp. As its name stated, there was a stringy, knotted yellow wig upon its head, which was still visible even through the Forest's fog. (2,000 ATK)

"And, as a Dark Monster, it gains a bonus from Alice in Despairland."

Alice pointed to the Wasp and unleashed her power. The giant Insect began buzzing its wings and clicking its pincers in a menacing manner, and its wig became even more tangled. (2,000 ATK) –) (2,200 ATK)

"A wasp in a wig?" Kyon observed. "I don't recall anything like _that _in Carroll's works…"

"You wouldn't," Bruno told him. "It was from a lost chapter of _Through the Looking-Glass_, set directly before Alice became Queen. It was cut due to a recommendation from Carroll's illustrator, who couldn't imagine a picture for the chapter.

"Although… It is kind of hard to figure just why someone who could draw such oddities as Snap-dragonflies and Mock Turtles had problems drawing a wigged wasp.

"It also had the only poem in the book other than _Jabberwocky _that didn't involve seafood in any way—which may be why it didn't fit.

"Anyway, my Wasp's ability should seal my victory in this duel. You see, it can attack the opponent directly, so long as I cut the damage in half."

McGuinness let loose a smile. "Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked, pointing to his face-down card. "For all you know, my Trap Card could finish you off!"

Bruno raised an eyebrow, then laughed out loud. "Please, you really think I can't recognize a bluff when I see one? I can tell by the look on your face, plain as day, that the worst thing that that card will do to me is buy you an extra turn. Now, I commence my attack! Now, my nameless Monster, attack with mandible mince!"

The once-Wasp in a Wig buzzed its wings and took flight, using one of its hands to hold down its wig. Though it looked frail, it flew every bit as well as any of McGuinness's Harpies, flitting right around what used to be Harpie Lady 1.

McGuinness hit the button on his Disk like his life depended on it.

"I activate Waboku!" he declared. "Protecting me from damage this turn!"

Three robed priestesses appeared right in front of the sober satyr and blocked Bruno's Monster's attack. Annoyed, the nameless Monster flew back to its owner.

"Called that one, too," Bruno smirked. "All right, I'll end my turn."

McGuinness glared at Bruno in silence as his priestesses disappeared. His hand trembling, he drew what might well be his final card. When he saw it, he let out a grin that suggested a level of gleeful insanity.

"Oh, you're in for it now, Bruno!" he hooted. "Because I'm sacrificing my Harpie Lady 1 to summon Swift Birdman Joe!"

A whirlwind erupted around what used to be Harpie Lady 1 and blasted her into particles, and, in her place, a new Monster arose. It had wings and talons like a Harpie, but this one was male, muscular and armored, with feathers on his wings, tail, and head that started out pale yellow, but slowly changed to grassy green, and then to bright scarlet at the tips. He took to the air and struck a pose, showing off his claws as the Forest of Anonymity's mist swirled around his face. (2,300 ATK)

"And it gets better," McGuinness continued, his smile growing broader. "Since I summoned Joe by sacrificing a Wind Monster, he blows all the Spell and Trap Cards on the field back to their owners' hands!"

"No!" Ace shouted. "That means his Harpies will get their names back!"

"Yep!" McGuinness confirmed. "And it gets better. Remember my Hysteric Party? It never left the field!"

McGuinness continued to laugh hysterically as Joe beat his wings with all his might, creating a tornado in the center of the field, sucking in the Forest's mist and the Hysteric Party's fog, and finally tearing up the trees by their roots. The cards were blown out of their owners' Duel Disks and straight back to their hands.

"Now, Joe, attack that bald bug with talon tornado!"

The Birdman smirked and launched himself at the Wasp in a Wig, spinning around faster and faster as he got closer, until he was nothing but a blur of talons and feathers. The Wasp cried out in desperation, but was slashed to bits in seconds.

**(B: 1,200) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 600)**

"There goes your last Monster!" McGuinness declared. "And now, to finish my turn, I'll set my Hysteric Party back on the field! Next turn, when I draw a card, I'll be able to bring back all _four _of my dead Harpies, and even if you _do _re-activate that Field Spell of yours, my Empress will still have 2,900 Attack Points! Face it, you die on my next turn!"

Bruno stared back at the satyr, still with that sarcastic grin on his face, not so much as a bead of sweat on his brow. He just shook his head and said "It's not over, Leslie-boy, until the last card is played."

"Just draw your card!" McGuinness snapped.

Bruno raised an eyebrow and reached for his deck. At the same time, the ghostly figure of Alice in Despairland hovered over and touched the deck as well.

Bruno drew the card, then turned it around for everyone to see. Ace, Kyon, and McGuinness were shocked into silence. It was Monster Reborn.

"A clichéd finish," Bruno sighed, slipping the card into his Duel Disk. "But a good one nonetheless. Still, I guess I _could _give your last experience as a duelist in this tournament a small upside – I'll use Monster Reborn to revive _your _Harpie Empress and give you an image to remember."

A glowing red ankh appeared before Bruno, and the homage to Kujaku Mai reappeared, now serving a new master. (2,600 ATK)

"And since you blew my Forest of Anonymity off of the field, she keeps her name, and the power boost that comes with it."

The Harpie Empress tossed her hair, tightened her bustier, and took a tight hold on her whip, readying herself for battle as she powered up. (2,600 ATK) –) (2,900 ATK)

McGuinness's face was drenched in sweat. His knees were knocking together, and he seemed to have stopped blinking. "W-wait!" he cried. "Please!"

"Sorry," Bruno said with a shrug before turning to his new Monster. "Harpie Empress, treat Swift Birdman Joe to some S&M with your rose whip attack!"

The Harpie Empress narrowed her eyes and nodded. With a flourish, she snapped her whip, snapping it into Swift Birdman Joe's chest again and again as he howled in agony. Finally, on the tenth or so strike, he exploded into pixels as the Empress crossed her arms, an even more smug look on her already smug face.

**(B: 1,200) - - - - - - - - - - (McG: 0)**

"And that's the end of that," Bruno declared, still sounding bored as the holograms faded and the players deactivated their Duel Disks and removed their D-Gazers. "I'll be relieving you of those chips now."

McGuinness grumbled a little, but took out his two bank rolls and tossed them over to Bruno, who gladly pocketed them.

"Great," the satyr snarled. "Now I'm stuck on this island without booze for another four days! And worse, the bros are gonna kick my ass when I don't give 'em the week-long party I promised 'em!"

"'Week-long party'?" Ace repeated, raising her eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

The satyr shrugged. "I was gonna use the prize money to throw a big party at the frat house," he explained, causing the others to give him a funny look.

"How, exactly, did you intend to do that?" Kyon inquired. "The money is sent to a charity fund of the duelist's choice, not the duelist himself."

McGuinness laughed at this. "Yeah, I know. That's why I chose the fraternity program at my college – the proceeds head right back to me and my bros!"

Kyon flared his nostrils in disgust. "That's deplorable!" he exclaimed.

"Whatever. It's still legal. And we can make do with that two-thousand-euro consolation prize."

Bruno let out a chuckle at this.

"What?" the satyr sneered. "It's perfectly legal! There's nothing they can do to keep me from doing it!"

"Unless, of course, your particular frat house no longer exists," the plump Shadowchaser shot back.

"Is that a threat of some sort?" McGuinness hissed, narrowing his bloodshot eyes and backing up until he was nearly pressed up against the counter of the food kiosk.

"No," Bruno told him. "It's a prediction. Your frat house has a good chance of being shut down, considering that you admitted on camera that the entire house has been doing cocaine for months. This tournament is being televised, remember?"

"Don't forget your contract with Lessiux," added Kyon. "If the one I have with them is any indication, they frown on drugged-up duelists."

McGuinness's jaw dropped. "You jerks!" he screamed. "You ruined me!"

"You ruined yourself," Bruno told the satyr, but he didn't seem to hear.

"WE COULD GET EXPELLED FOR THIS! EVERY COLLEGE SATYR IN AMERICA COULD GET BURNED FOR THIS, AND THEY'RE GOING TO BLAME ME! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!"

"You can't fight," Kyon reminded him, wiggling a finger in his face. "You'll be harshly punished."

"WHO CARES?" McGuinness roared. "I'VE ALREADY LOST THE TOURNAMENT, THE CONSOLATION PRIZE, AND MY DIGNITY! WHAT REASON DO I HAVE TO HOLD BACK! AND WATCH OUT, TRANNY," he warned Kyon. "BECAUSE YOU AND BUTCH OVER THERE ARE NEXT!"

"I'm not afraid of you," Bruno said calmly. "I can fight just like any other Shadowchaser, and I have witnesses to prove it was in self-defense."

McGuinness just growled and held up his fists, but just before he could move, he began to convulse. His eyes lit up and his mouth began to foam, and finally he collapsed to the ground, not moving.

"That should take care of him until security arrives," the kiosk clerk said, setting down her Taser.

"Excellent work, madam," Kyon complimented. "That was certainly an unexpected move."

"Yeah," Ace agreed. "You hadn't said anything for so long, I forgot you were even there!"

The clerk smiled and pulled out a phone to call security, and Bruno walked over to his spectators and sat down across from Kyon.

"I don't believe we've been formally introduced," he said, extending a hand. "I'm Bruno von Klein, Munich Shadowchaser."

"Kyon Rokudai," Kyon said, shaking his hand. A shudder went down his spine, but he didn't let it affect his manners. "Blue Knight from Las Vegas. And this," he said, turning to Ace "is Alice, the love of my life."

"You can call me 'Ace'," Ace told Bruno. "And _you_," she said, turning on her were-ermine friend as her cheeks flushed. "Can call me your _friend_, because, once again, that's all we are!"

Kyon just shook his head and smiled, like he had heard this a thousand times before (and he had).

"Excellent to meet you," Bruno said, offering a hand again. Ace didn't take it—she was too disturbed by Kyon's reaction to his touch. Instead she pushed herself up off of her seat and turned to leave.

"Alice, my dear," Kyon asked. "Wherever are you going?"

"Anywhere," she responded, still upset. "I was just staying to see the end of Brian's match. Since you won't duel me and Leslie's out of the tournament, I need to find an opponent!"

As she continued to walk away, Bruno spoke up.

"Wait!" he called. "Come back! I've something important to say!"

Ace raised an eyebrow and turned back.

"Keep your temper."

Ace's face got even darker in color. She snorted and, without a word, turned away again.

"And I heard that a lot of duelists are clustering in the forest at the moment. I was on my way there myself, before I was challenged.

"Of course, with lunchtime nearing, they should be clearing out in an hour or so, so, unless you want to wait here, you'd better hurry."

Ace thought about it. Bruno didn't seem to be in any rush to leave, which meant that she should be. She sprinted off, eager to finally find her first opponent.

Kyon smiled and cocked his head. When Ace was out of earshot, he asked Bruno, "You were quoting the Caterpillar, weren't you?"

Bruno nodded. "Well, how many chances am I going to get to say that, in context, to a girl who is actually _named _Alice?"

**0000000000**

**HARPIE LADY SPARROW FORMATION (Spell Card)**

**Normal Trap**

**Image: **A sparrow made of orange flames in the center of a circle with eight strange symbols.

**Card Description: **Activate only when your opponent declares an attack while you control 2 or more face-up "Harpie Lady". Negate the attack and end the Battle Phase.

_Note: This card was first used by Mai in the multi-part original anime episode "My Freaky Valentine". Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**0000000000**

**AKASHIC RECORD (Spell Card)**

**Normal Spell**

**Image: **A group of dinosaur bones and a large dinosaur skull.

**Card Description: **Draw 2 cards from your deck. If you have used any copies of the 2 drawn cards previously in the duel, banish all copies of the previously used card(s) from your hand, deck, field, and Graveyard.

_Note: This card was first used by Johan Anderson (possessed by Yubel) in the GX multi-part episode "The Ultimate Face-Off". Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**0000000000**

**HARPIE LADY FALCON FORMATION (Spell Card)**

**Normal Spell**

**Image: **A falcon made of green flames in the center of a circle with eight strange symbols.

**Card Description: **Activate only when you control 2 or more face-up "Harpie Lady". During the turn this card is activated, all "Harpie Lady" on your field can attack your opponent's Life Points directly. In this case, the Battle Damage inflicted by each of those cards that attack your opponent's Life Points directly becomes 800.

**0000000000**

**HARPIE LADY PEAHEN FORMATION (Spell Card)**

**Normal Spell**

**Image: **A peacock made of purple flames in the center of a circle with eight strange symbols.

**Card Description: **Activate only when you control 2 or more face-up "Harpie Lady" Monsters that have Levels. Increase the Level of all face-up "Harpie Lady" Monsters on your field by 2.

**0000000000**

**HARPIE HATCHING SEASON (Spell Card)**

**Normal Spell**

**Image: **Numerous child versions of Harpie Lady 1, 2, and 3 hatching from green eggs.

**Card Description: **Your opponent draws 1 card. Special Summon 2 "Harpie Lady Tokens" (Winged Beast-Type/Wind/Level 2/ATK 0/DEF 0) to your side of the field in Attack Position. These Tokens are treated as if their name was "Harpie Lady". During the turn that this card is activated, you cannot use the "Harpie Lady Tokens" for Tribute or Synchro Summons.

**0000000000**

**HARPIE EMPRESS (Monster Card)**

**Winged Beast/Wind/Xyz/Effect/Rank 6/2,600 ATK/2,800 DEF**

_3 Level 6 Wind Monsters_

**Effect: **This card's name is treated as "Harpie Lady" while on the field and in the Graveyard. All face-up "Harpie Lady" on your side of the field gain 300 ATK for each face-up "Harpie Lady" on the field. Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Wind Monster from your Graveyard.

_Note: The original idea for this card was created by Lux-Nero and smoothed out by myself, while Cyber Commander came up with the name. Creative credit goes to all of us._

**0000000000**

**ALICE, THE WARDEN OF WONDERLAND (Monster Card)**

**Fairy/Dark/Effect/Level 4/1,300 ATK/1,000 DEF**

**Effect: **When this face-up Monster is attacked by an opponent's Monster with 2,000 ATK or less, toss one coin and call it. If you call it right, negate the attack.

**0000000000**

**THE JABBERWOCK (Monster Card)**

**Dragon/Dark/Effect/Level 7/2,600 ATK/2,000 DEF**

**Effect: **When this card is face-up on your side of the field, your opponent cannot select "Alice, the Warden of Wonderland" as an attack target.

_Note: The preceding two cards were created by Cyber Commander and first appeared in his fic, "YuGiOh Jr: Legacy of the Duelist". Creative credit goes to him._

**0000000000**

**TWEEDLEDEE (Monster Card)**

**Warrior/Dark/Effect/Level 4/1,600 ATK/1,800 DEF**

**Effect: **When this card is successfully Normal Summoned, you may pay 800 Life Points to Special Summon one "Tweedledum" from your hand or deck.

**0000000000**

**TWEEDLEDUM (Monster Card)**

**Warrior/Dark/Effect/Level 4/1,800 ATK/1,800 DEF**

**Effect: **When this card is successfully Normal Summoned, you may pay 800 Life Points to Special Summon one "Tweedledee" from your hand or deck.

_Note: The preceding two cards were created by Cyber Commander and first appeared in his fic, "YuGiOh! Dark Messiah". Creative credit goes to him._

**0000000000**

**MAD HATTER (Monster Card)**

**Warrior/Dark/Effect/Level 4/1,800 ATK/1,200 DEF**

**Effect: **During each of your Standby Phases, roll one die. Apply the corresponding effect depending on the roll.

*1: This card gains 800 ATK until your next Standby Phase.

*2: This card loses 800 ATK until your next Standby Phase.

*3: If this card attacks a Monster during this turn's Battle Phase, destroy the attack target without applying Damage Calculation.

*4: If this card is attacked during your opponent's next turn's Battle Phase, destroy this card without applying Damage Calculation.

*5: Destroy 1 Spell or Trap Card on your opponent's field.

*6: Destroy 1 Spell or Trap Card on your field.

_Note: This card was created by Cyber Commander and first appeared in my fic, "Shadowchasers: Miscellaneous Files". Creative credit goes to him._

**0000000000**

**LOBSTER QUADRILLE (Trap Card)**

**Normal Trap**

**Image: **Tenniel's illustration of the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle dancing around Alice, in black and white.

**Card Description: **Select one Monster on your field that is in either Attack Position or face-down Defense Position. If it is in Attack Position, switch it into face-down Defense Position. If it is in face-down Defense Position, switch it into Attack Position (its Flip Effect, if any is activated at this time).

**0000000000**

**CAUCUS-RACE (Trap Card)**

**Normal Trap**

**Image: **Tenniel's illustration of the Dodo presenting Alice with a thimble for winning the caucus-race as a bunch of other animals watch on, in black and white.

**Card Description: **Activate this card at the beginning of your opponent's Battle Phase. On this turn, all of your opponent's Monsters in Attack Position must attack if able, and you decide the order in which they attack.

**0000000000**

**MORALS FROM THE DUCHESS (Spell Card)**

**Normal Spell**

**Image: **Tenniel's illustration of Alice, still holding her flamingo from the croquet game, standing next to the Duchess, in black and white.

**Card Description: **Look at the top card of your opponent's deck and activate the corresponding effect based on whether it is a Spell, Trap, or Monster Card.

*Monster: Both players shuffle their decks and draw 1 card.

*Spell: Both players shuffle their decks and gain 1,000 Life Points.

*Trap: Both players shuffle their decks and take 1,000 points of direct damage.

**0000000000**

**HUMPTY DUMPTY (Monster Card)**

**Rock/Dark/Effect/Level 4/2,300 ATK/0 DEF**

**Effect: **After this card attacks, it is changed to Defense Position at the end of the Battle Phase. This card's battle position cannot be changed until the end of your next turn, except with a card effect.

**0000000000**

**VORPAL BLADE (Spell Card)**

**Equip Spell**

**Image: **Tenniel's illustration of the "beamish" hero confronting the Jabberwock, in black and white.

**Card Description: **Equip only to "Alice, the Warden of Wonderland". A Monster Equipped with this card gains 800 ATK. If a Monster on your field would be destroyed by the effect of a card that designates a target, you can destroy this card instead.

_Note: The preceding five cards first appeared in my fic, "Shadowchasers: Miscellaneous Files"._

**0000000000**

**FOREST OF ANONYMITY (Spell Card)**

**Field Spell**

**Image: **Tenniel's illustration of Alice walking through the forest where nothing has a name, her arms around a fawn's neck.

**Card Description: **Pay 1,000 Life Points to activate this card. All face-up Monsters on the field are treated as if their names are "?", unless their name is "Alice, the Warden of Wonderland".

**0000000000**

**SLEEPY DORMOUSE (Monster Card)**

**Beast/Dark/Tuner/Effect/Level 1/100 ATK/100 DEF**

**Effect: **You can discard this card from your hand to take 1 "Alice, the Warden of Wonderland", "Mad Hatter", or "March Hare" from your deck and add it to your hand. Afterwards, shuffle your deck.

**0000000000**

**WASP IN A WIG (Monster Card)**

**Insect/Dark/Effect/Level 6/2,000 ATK/1,500 DEF**

**Effect: **This Monster can attack directly. If this card attacks directly using its effect, Battle Damage is halved.

**0000000000**

**ALICE IN DESPAIRLAND (Monster Card)**

**Spellcaster/Dark/Effect/Level 1/0 ATK/0 DEF**

**Effect: **This card cannot be Normal Summoned or set. When this card is in your Graveyard, increase the ATK of all face-up Dark Monsters on your field by 200.

_Note: This card first appeared on a computer screen in episode 80 of the GX anime. This scene was cut from the dub, and all that is known for sure about the card aside from its name and appearance is that it is an Effect Monster. The rest are creative liberties taken by me. Still, partial creative credit goes to the writers of the episode._

**0000000000**

_**Next: **_

_**Gomi: What is the secret to Serket's brutal OTK strategy? I have no idea, but this cold and arrogant woman has just got on my bad side. **_

_**At this point, her lethal deck has defeated two Shadowchasers, one of whom has a reputation for being one of the toughest in the organization. Now she wants to make it an even three. A lot of folks might be frightened if they were in my position…**_

_**I say, "bring it on".**_

"_**Overwhelm" is coming soon. **_


	6. Overwhelm

_We're back to me again, so let's waste no more time…_

**0000000000**

_**Pro dueling, from what I gather, is a lot like pro wrestling. No, the actual duels are not choreographed in regards to who wins or loses. (At least they aren't supposed to be; there are rumors here and there that some of the early duels involving Jack Atlas were rigged, possibly without him knowing it.)**_

_**But like pro wrestling, there's a lot of acting involved, and a lot of showmanship. The costumes alone can be proof of that. A pro duelist has to entertain as much as he – or in this case, she – has to duel.**_

_**Having said that, my opponent's cold and downright callous attitude may all be an act… But I kind of find it hard to give her the benefit of the doubt… She's really rubbing me the wrong way…**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**DRAW SIX**

**0000000000**

**Overwhelm**

**0000000000**

**00000**

During the confrontation between sexual bird ladies and creatures from the world of fiction, a single man traversed through the woods – His green leathered jacket billowed over his figure. The man in question was none other than the mysterious Xander who had observed a small portion of Ember's duel.

At the moment however, he was just gracing the woods with his presence, aiming to find a target to duel… But, he was currently unsuccessful.

Stopping at a nearby clearing, Xander sighed loudly as he crossed his arms over his broad chest, "This is unacceptable. How am I supposed to fulfill my mission if I cannot acquire the necessary funds needed to attain a place in the finals?

"If I was given a specified target, then it would be easier to acquire the necessary funds – I cannot simply choose randomly from fifty Shadowchasers. Maybe I should've targeted that one Shadowchaser that Zanth has an obsession over – Ember I believe is what she is called…"

Xander sighed loudly as he knelt down to the ground, his hands digging into the dirt, '_Master… Grant me guidance to an opponent so that I may fulfill your will…'_

For a few moments, Xander stood still with his fingers dug deep into the ground…

BA-DUM!

And just like that, Xander's eyes flew open as he turned to the right and smirked, "Should've done that from the start…"

Pulling his hands from the earth, Xander used his senses to follow the direction he was looking at and through the brush. He smirked wildly at the sight before him. '_Detecting movement through the earth… Always a good idea…'_

Indeed, what Xander was looking at was a younger Shadowchaser who had just recently sat down on the ground, resting in the shade of the trees. The Shadowchaser in question was a young woman with a long brown hair that was pulled up into a pair of pig tails. Her svelte figure was dressed in a pair of camouflage cargo pants with a black t-shirt. Next to her were a pair of hiking boots, but were removed in order for her to relax, "Man, those things may be good for the long run, but they still hurt like hell…"

Slowly and quietly, Xander emerged from the bushes, a rather innocent smile on his rather ruggedly handsome face, "Are you injured miss?"

"Huh?" The young Shadowchaser questioned, immediately standing up at the sudden appearance of Xander. "Who in the world are you?!"

Xander lifted his hands up warily and stepped back, "I am Xander Garren."

There was a moment of silence between the two, until finally the Shadowchaser cleared her throat, "Uh, aren't you going to say anything else?"

"You only requested my name," Xander replied as he kept his hands up. "And thus, I answered."

"Uh, okay?" the Shadowchaser questioned.

"I shall ask again," Xander continued as he lowered his arms. "Are you hurt in any way?"

"Uh, no," the Shadowchaser replied with a dull look in her eyes. "I was just resting my feet…"

"Then you can sit while we duel," Xander stated as he lifted his left arm up to reveal his smaller Duel Disk.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" The Shadowchaser yelped as she lifted her hands up defensively. "You're just challenging me to a duel? You're not gonna say that you came after me specifically?"

"I have never met you before," Xander answered as he closed his eyes. "I do not know your name, and the only thing that I can discern is that you are not a Blue Knight."

Xander gestured towards the blue scarf that was wrapped around the chains at his waist, "Since I cannot see one of these on your person, I can only assume that you are one of those 'Shadowchasers' – And thus, you are an opponent. So, I challenge you to a duel."

"Wow, you certainly don't waste any time," the Shadowchaser chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head.

"I am merely interested in dueling to get to the finals," Xander replied as he pointed towards the Shadowchaser with his hand. "So do you accept, or will I have to waste even more time looking for another opponent?"

"There's no need to be rude," the Shadowchaser replied as she sat back down on the ground and grabbed her boots. "If you give me a few moments, I'll get my boots on and we'll duel. Man, I thought you pros were supposed to have a bit of flair to yourselves?"

Xander didn't say anything as he merely watched the female Shadowchaser put her boots on and jumped to her feet.

"Now that I've got those things on again," the Shadowchaser exclaimed as she pumped her fist and activated her Duel Disk at the same time. "Allow me to introduce myself – I'm one of the newest Shadowchasers around, and you can call me Maddie!"

"For a moment there I was thinking you wouldn't accept my challenge," Xander stated with a smirk on his face. "In addition, you seem to be quite confident… You know I'm a professional, and yet you don't seem daunted."

"Just because you get paid to play cards," Maddie stated as she fitted a deck of cards into her duel disk. "That doesn't mean that you'll win. And let me tell ya buddy, before I became an official Shadowchaser, I had to face off against something that people have nightmares about."

'_Nightmares… How I wish I could experience those…'_ Xander thought as he slipped a deck of cards into his duel disk. "Then you must be very skilled then… I look forward to seeing the skills that took down a nightmare." (XLP: 8000)

"You won't be disappointed!" Maddie announced as she activated her D-Gazer. "So, what should we wager?" (MLP: 8000)

"I have yet to duel against anyone," Xander stated with a shrug of his arms.

"Well, I had a duel," Maddie replied with a smile. "I've got about fifteen hundred. So, how about we play it safe and both wager five hundred euros and…"

"A thousand," Xander interrupted.

"What?" Maddie questioned.

"I'm playing to win," Xander stated as he reached for his deck. "Either I win and continue, or I lose and get kicked out of the tournament. It should be good for you. Even if you lose, you'll still be in the tournament, but if you win, then you'll be half way to getting to the finals."

"Well, if you wanna wager that much," Maddie replied with a shrug. "Then sure."

"Excellent, well then…" Xander muttered before he quickly drew off the top five cards from his deck and fanned them out of in front of him. "For this duel, may we decide who begins with a coin toss?"

"I pegged you as a guy who'd want to take the first turn," Maddie replied.

"First… Second… It doesn't really matter," Xander stated as he lifted his arms up into the air, placing the D-Gazer over his left eye (Maddie did the same). "In most duels today, people who refer to themselves as duelists think that just because they have the first turn that they can achieve victory in a matter of turns – but that is not always true. Those that have the second turn can use it to analyze their opponent's strategy and hopefully determine what cards their opponent will play. It also grants its user the second attack.

"The first turn grants its user to set up their field – Possibly refresh their hand if they have the right cards… But enough about that, do you accept the coin toss?"

"Wow, sure," Maddie stated with a dulled look in her eyes. "You must like to hear the sound of your voice a lot."

Xander only coughed slightly as a large holographic coin materialized in between both duelists. "Just call it…"

The coin snapped up into the air, spinning wildly as both duelists watched the coin fly. Maddie smiled as she threw her hand up into the air, "I'll call tails!"

Almost immediately the coin landed on the ground to reveal that the coin itself had the heads symbol face up. Xander blinked a few times, "Hmm… And here I was hoping for the second turn… But I suppose the first will do well."

"You know you don't have to go first," Maddie stated with a sigh. "The winner of the coin toss gets to choose who gets to go first…"

Xander blinked a few times. "Uh… Is that really true? Every duel that I've been in, whoever won the coin toss got to go first…"

"A lot of duelists usually take the first turn, ya know," Maddie explained with a hand on her hip. "Like you said, a lot of duelists like to set up on the first turn."

"And I shall be no exception at this point in time," Xander stated as he pulled a sixth card from his deck. "… And it will be a simple turn. I summon Silver Fang in attack mode!"

A loud howl echoed through the air as a Xander slapped the card on his duel disk, calling forth a large silver furred wolf from the woods around them. The wolf licked its chops before it barred its fangs (1200 ATK).

"That is my turn," Xander stated.

Maddie really had to blink a few times at that, "Silver Fang? Uh…"

"… Is there a problem with my move?" Xander questioned as he tilted his head slightly.

"Nope," Maddie replied as she drew. "No problem at all… I was just at least expecting you to put it in defense mode."

"Why defend?" Xander replied with a shrug. "I have no reason to hide."

"… O-Kay…" Maddie muttered as she looked the cards in her hand. "Then I guess I'll take my turn…"

Xander only smirked slightly as he looked at the cards in his hand, '_Rule Number One of Duelist One-O-One… Never underestimate.'_

"All right…" said Maddie.

"I play the Stray Lambs Spell Card."

She played the card, and two fluffy, white sheep appeared in front of her, apparently asleep. (0 DEF x2)

"Next, I'll set three cards face-down, and end my turn," she said, as three set cards appeared behind the two Tokens. "Your move, fellah."

Xander drew a card, and looked at it.

"Trap Card, go!" cheered Maddie.

One of her cards lifted up.

"Nightmare Archfiends!" she said. "I sacrifice one of my Tokens…"

One of the little sheep vanished.

"To Special Summon three Nightmare Archfiend Tokens… To _your _side of the field!"

Three gaunt, skeletal demons with coal-black skin appeared in front of Xander (2,000 ATK x3)

He gave them a cold stare. Oddly enough, they seemed far more intimidated by him than he was of them…

"Next, Token Feastevil!" shouted Maddie, as she activated another Trap Card. "Because I just summoned Token Monsters, this Trap destroys all Tokens on the field!"

The Nightmare Archfiend Tokens and the final Lamb Token burst into shards.

"And you take 300 points of damage per Token! Plus, due to the effect of the Nightmare Archfiend Tokens, you lose an additional 800 Life Points for each of them!"

(XLP: 4,400)

"Now, to protect myself…" said Maddie, as her last facedown card lifted up. "Scapegoat!"

Four more small sheep flew out of the card, positioning themselves in front of Maddie. (0 DEF x4)

Xander looked at her with the same stoic expression.

"That was quite a potent combo…" he said.

"Uh, thanks?" she said.

Xander selected a card from his hand.

**000000**

"So, Gomi?" asked Ember. "Exactly what kind of deck do you have?"

"Well, uh…" said Gomi. "My cards are rather complex… You see…"

He was interrupted by a loud scream that echoed over the grassland.

Ember and Gomi rushed over the hill they had been walking over. As Shadowchasers, they had learned a lot of things, and one of those things was, you _never _ignore a scream.

They reached a spot where a duel had just ended. The loser was lying on the ground stunned.

Ember was pretty stunned herself when she saw who it was. She had only seen the man – a hulking, muscular, auburn-haired, bearded man wearing a kilt – once, during her initiation ceremony a few years back, but Douglas Bowmaker, Scotland's resident Shadowchaser, was a name that was legendary among the Shadowchasers.

One of his achievements as a member of the organization was defeating the demonic Master of the Wild Hunt, not an easy feat. Douglas was also the caber toss champion at the Scottish Highland Games for five years running, and if you had ever tried that event, you'd know that it was _very_ hard to do.

Long story short, Douglas was known for being tough as nails… Ember had never expected to see this…

"Douglas!" she shouted, helping him up. "You okay, big guy?"

"Ugh…" said Douglas. "Did anyone get the number of that truck that hit me?"

They looked at his opponent, who happened to be Serket. The pro had a smug look on her face.

"I knew the guy would be a pushover," she said, as she crossed her arms. "About the time I saw that skirt."

"For the third time, you harpy," shouted Douglas, getting angry, "it's a _kilt!"_

"Who is this?" asked Ember.

"Serket…" moaned Douglas. "And she's _real _good… I never saw it coming…"

"Hey, you don't have to kick a man while he's down, you know?" said Gomi, looking at her with an annoyed glance.

"So how about someone who has more fight?" asked Serket.

"I've already increased my winnings to 2,000 Euros; I've doubled my money, and I'm well on my way to going all the way in this tournament.

"Let me tell you Shadowchasers… A million Euros is nothing compared to the boost it's going to give my career when I go up against your boss and beat the pants off of him…"

Gomi looked at her.

"You need five-thousand Euros total before that goal comes within reach…" said Gomi. "If you're so shrewd, I'll duel you and ante up everything I have, one thousand."

"GOMI!" shouted Ember.

He looked at her.

"Are you… Sure about this?"

"You said it yourself, Ember," he said, "someone who never takes risks doesn't get anywhere…"

"Laddie!" shouted Douglas. "Maybe you'd better think this through… This lass… Her deck… See…"

"Douglas, please…" said Gomi. "I appreciate the offer, but this is a tournament. I don't have any more right to know what her strategy is than she does mine."

Serket chuckled.

"Well, fine…" she said. "It's a bet… I never shy from a challenge…"

She donned her D-Gazer.

Then she activated her custom-built Duel Disk.

_Show off… _thought Gomi, as the auto-shuffler shuffled her deck.

"So, Gomi, was it?" she asked. "Isn't that a Japanese word for garbage?"

Ember gave Serket a dirty look, but Gomi simply closed his eyes and sighed.

"It's the name of a Japanese art movement that uses trash and rubbish as the medium," he replied, as he placed his D-Gazer over his eye. "Sculptures made of beer cans, statues made of old tires, that sort of thing. So in a way, yes…"

He activated his Duel Disk.

"So duel already."

**(Gomi: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Serket: 8,000)**

"I'll make the first move…" said Serket.

She drew a sixth card.

"I set a Monster…" she said, "and then two face-down cards…"

A hidden Monster appeared in front of her, and then two cards behind it.

"It's your move…"

_Be careful laddie… _thought Douglas. _One move was all I was able to get!_

Gomi drew a card.

"All right," he said. "I summon Sacred Leonis!"

As he played the card, a group of stars appeared behind him, arranged in the pattern of the constellation Leo the Lion. Then the Monster appeared, a tall, powerful humanoid in decorated plate armor, with a glowing blue mane on his helmet, holding a blue energy sword. (1,000 ATK)

"Due to his effect," continued Gomi, "I'm allowed to make another Normal Summon this turn, so long as I use it to summon another Sacred.

"So, I'll summon Sacred Acubes."

Another group of stars appeared behind him, this time forming into the constellation Cancer the Crab. Then the Monster appeared, a big, hulking robot made of shining steel, with two powerful mechanical pincers for hands. (800 ATK)

"And when I summon it, all Sacred Monsters I have gain 500 Attack Points."

(Sacred Leonis: 1,500 ATK, Sacred Acubes: 1,300 ATK)

"Leonis… Attack with Stellar Sword!"

The armored Beast rushed at the face-down card. An ugly, horned Fiend with a long tongue appeared on the card, and was blown into little pieces.

"You just destroyed my Mad Reloader," said Serket. "That means I can send two cards in my hand to the Graveyard..."

She discarded two cards.

"…and then draw two replacements…"

She made two draws.

"Well then…" said Gomi. "Acubes, attack directly with Crush Grip!"

The huge Machine grabbed Serket by the waist and squeezed. She grunted a little.

Then she took a deep breath.

"Didn't… hurt…" she said slowly.

_This is bad… _thought Douglas. _She's leading him on, just like she did with me!_

"All right…" said Gomi, "I'll set this, and my turn is over…"

A face-down card materialized behind his two Sacreds.

**(G: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 6,700)**

Serket drew. She smirked slightly as she saw what it was.

"I play the Continuous Spell Card, Call of the Mummy!" she shouted. "Now, I can Special Summon a Zombie-Type Monster from my hand, so long as I control no other Monsters…

"So… Here comes Endless Decay!"

There was a loud, haunting moan, and a huge mummy, about the size of an ogre, rose onto the field in front of Serket. It had disproportionately large fists, and not all of its decaying flesh was covered by burial linens. It wore a tarnished bronze belt of some sort. (4,000 ATK)

"Four-thousand Attack Points?" gasped Gomi.

"You got it," said Serket. "When Endless Decay is summoned, its Attack Points become equal to half of _your _current Life Points.

"And I'm far from done…"

One of her facedown cards lifted up.

"I activate Limit Reverse to summon 3-Hump Lacooda from my Graveyard."

A silly-looking camel with three humps covered with mummy wrappings appeared in an aura of light. Of course, there was no such thing as three-humped camels, but Duel Monsters had stretched believability much further. (500 ATK)

"Next, I activate Inferno Reckless Summon," she said, as her second face-down card lifted up. "I'll summon two more Lacoodas."

Two more of the strange Beasts appeared. (500 x2)

"And I'll summon my second Acubes!" shouted Gomi, as another of the Machines appeared. (800 ATK)

The attack Score of the summoned Acubes went up to 1,300, the score of the one that was already on the field increased to 1,800, while Leonis went up to 2,000.

_Hopefully, that will cushion the blow a little, _he thought.

"Next," said Serket, "because I have three copies of 3-Hump Lacooda, I can sacrifice two of them, and then draw three cards."

Two of the Beasts vanished, and then she drew three times.

"Then…" she said, "I play Hand Destruction…"

She played a Spell Card.

"We must each send two cards in our hands to the Graveyard and draw two replacements…"

Gomi looked at his hand, and quickly made two discards.

Serket did the same. Then she looked Gomi in the eye.

"And now I have everything I need for my perfect combo…" she said. "I sacrifice my other Lacooda…"

The silly-looking Beast turned into an orb of pure darkness…

Gomi stepped back in shock as a second Endless Decay appeared. (4,000 ATK)

"_Two _of them?" screamed Ember.

"Unfortunately, lass…" said Douglas, shaking his head, "the worst is yet to come…"

"Indeed…" said Serket. "I play Lightning Vortex!"

She played a card, and discarded another. Lightning crashed from the heavens, blowing Gomi's three Monsters to smithereens.

"GOMI!" screamed Ember.

"So now you know the secret of my ultimate strategy…" said Serket. "I hope it was worth it…

"Attack him directly!"

The first Endless Decay lumbered towards Gomi.

"I'm not dead yet!" he shouted. "From my Graveyard, I activate the effect of… Necro Gardna!"

Serket gasped as the Dark Warrior appeared in front of Gomi, blocking the huge Zombie's punch.

"Seems I managed to dodge your mighty OTK…" said Gomi with a nervous grin.

Serket didn't say anything. She simply pointed, and the second Endless Decay followed, clobbering Gomi in the gut and throwing him backwards.

Gomi grunted, and held his stomach. He slowly tapped his Disk.

"I activate Damage Gate!" he groaned, as his Trap Card lifted up. "Now I can Special Summon a Monster from my Graveyard with an Attack Score equal to or lower than the damage I just took…

"I could literally summon _any _Monster from my deck now if it happened to be there…"

Sacred Leonis reappeared, leveling his sword at the much bigger Monster. (1,000 ATK)

"I end my turn…" said Serket, bitterly.

**(G: 4,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 6,700)**

"Gomi…" said Ember.

"I'll be fine, Ember…" said Gomi. "I've dealt with worse…"

_Not MUCH worse, mind you, _he thought. _I may have dodged her OTK, but I still have two Monsters with 4,000 Attack Points apiece to deal with! Getting rid of them isn't gonna be easy…_

He made a draw.

_Hmm… Maybe…_

"So what are these Sacred things of yours?" asked Serket. "Fairies?"

"No," said Gomi. "They represent a wide variety of Types, but only one of them is a Fairy.

"According to Duel Monsters lore, they're a group of celestial beings sent from the heavens in an attempt to save the Duel Terminal world from the plague that spawned the onslaught of the Evilswarm. Eventually, their efforts would fail, resulting in the direct intervention of the god who created that world.

"Still, the Sacreds are powerful in their own right… To give you an example, I'm playing _two _Continuous Spell Cards.

"The first one is called Star Sign of the Sacred. The other is called Galaxy Wave."

He fit the two cards into his Disk, and the two Spell Cards materialized in front of him.

"We'll get to those in a minute," he said. "Next, I'll summon Sacred Sheratan."

As he played the card, the stars of the constellation Ares the Ram appeared behind him. Then another armored Monster appeared, wearing a helmet with ram's horns and a cape, holding a crossbow. (700 ATK)

"He's not the strongest Sacred, but by summoning him, I get to take another Sacred from my deck…"

A card slipped out of his deck.

_Sacred Pollux will be useful later, _he thought.

"Next," he continued, "as you recall, Sacred Leonis lets me make a second Normal Summon, so I'll summon Sacred Dabaran."

The stars of Taurus the Bull appeared behind him, and then another hulking, armored Monster appeared, wearing armor, a cape, and a bull-like helmet. He held a large, ring-shaped device that glowed with red energy. (1,300 ATK)

"Normally, this would mean I'd be able to Special Summon a Level 3 Sacred…" he said, "but I don't have one…"

"Swarm the field all you like," said Serket. "You're going to need stronger Monsters than that."

"Swarming?" said Gomi, as he raised an eye. "Oh no… The Sacreds' specialty is _not _swarming…

"I'll show you what it is right now… By using Sacred Sheraton and Sacred Leonis… I build the Overlay Network!"

The two Sacreds turned into a spiraling vortex of energy.

"I Xyz Summon… Sacred Hyades!"

In a flash of light, a muscular, armored Sacred with golden horns on his full-face helmet, golden shoulder-pads, and two long spears, appeared in front of him. (1,900 ATK)

"This is where the effects of my two Continuous Spells kick in," said Gomi. "First, Galaxy Wave deals 500 points of damage to you whenever I Xyz Summon a Monster…"

A bolt of energy shot out of the card, and struck Serket in the stomach. She winced a little.

"And Star Sign of the Sacred lets me draw one card whenever I Xyz Summon a Monster with the word 'Sacred' in its name."

He made one draw.

"Very pretty…" said Serket. "But my Monsters are both more than twice as strong as that guy…"

"Is that so?" said Gomi.

He discarded Sheraton's card.

"By detaching one Overlay Unit, I can use Hyades' effect to change all of your Monsters to Defense Mode."

The two Endless Decays knelt, and shielded themselves with their large arms. (0 DEF x2)

"Well I'll be…" said Douglas. "Those things don't look so tough _now_!"

"That's right…" said Gomi. "I figured that defending wasn't their strong point…

"Leonis, Hyades… Destroy those mummies!"

Leonis slashed with his energy blade, and the first Endless Decay burst into a cloud of dust. Hyades stabbed with his twin blades, and the second one followed.

"And with that, I end my turn…"

Serket chuckled softly…

**(G: 4,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 6,200)**

"I have to admit… Gomi…" she said as she made a draw. "You are pretty resourceful…

"Still… You'll soon see that my deck is not a one-trick pony… After all… Yugi Mouto, Seto Kaiba, and to a lesser degree, Katsuya Jonouchi all said at times that it's foolish to build a strategy that concentrates too much on one Monster…

"I play Pot of Avarice…"

She played the card, and the goofy jar appeared in front of her. Five Monster cards slipped out of her discard slot, two 3-Hump Lacoodas, Mad Reloader, Royal Keeper, and Pyramid Turtle. She shuffled them into her deck, and made two draws.

Then she played one of them.

"I activate The Shallow Grave…" she said. "Now we each take a Monster from our Graveyards, and Special Summon them set in Defense Mode."

Ember looked with worry as the two set Monsters appeared on each side of the field.

_Gomi's Monster is likely Leonis… _she thought. _But Serket ditched a lot of cards while she was looking for those two Endless Decays… Hers could be almost anything._

"I'll set another Monster," said Serket, as another face-down Monster appeared, "and my turn is over."

Gomi drew a card.

_Trap Card… _he thought.

"All right, Cleopatra…" he said.

"Don't you dare compare me to her!" snapped Serket. "Contrary to media portrayals, Cleopatra was _not _beautiful. She was ugly.

"Not to mention the fact that she was the original gold-digger. She got everything he had by cozying up to Caesar, and then to Mark Antony!"

"Okay, sor-ry Ms. Historically Accurate!" sighed Gomi.

He looked at her.

"I'm pretty sure that real Egyptian female nobility didn't dress like that…" he mumbled. "Anyway… I Flip Summon Leonis…"

His set Monster flipped up, and Leonis appeared again. He growled a little at Serket. (1,000 ATK)

"Then, I summon Sacred Pollux!" he continued.

The stars of Gemini the Twins appeared behind him, and then an armored, faceless, hulking warrior, with spikes on his shoulder-guards, holding a large scimitar, appeared with the other two Sacreds. (1,700 ATK)

"Next, using Leonis's effect, I summon Sacred Gredi," he continued.

The constellation Capricorn the Goat appeared this time, and a Monster appeared that looked svelte and feminine. She was dressed in a silvery bodysuit, a full helmet and visor with goat-like horns, and carried a long staff tipped with two prongs. (1,600 ATK)

"Hyades, attack the Monster on the left!" he shouted.

Hyades twirled its blades, and made a rush for the set Monster…

A mummy appeared on the card that was very large, and downright fat. It held a big battle axe in its left hand. (2,000 DEF)

"Giant Axe Mummy!" shouted Gomi.

"That's right!" said Serket. "So not only do you lose 100 Life Points from your failed attack, your Sacred is smashed!"

Giant Axe Mummy made an upward swing with its weapon, knocking Hyades backwards with a huge dent in its armor. It shattered into motes of light.

"I'm not done!" said Gomi. "Pollux, attack the other Monster!"

Pollux lifted his sword, and rushed at the other set card…

A mummy clad in rotted, purple burial linens appeared crouched on the card. It seemed in even worse condition than most Zombies. (1,800 DEF)

"Too easy…" sighed Serket, putting her hand on her hip. "Not only is Poison Mummy's Defense Score too strong for him, but now you take 500 points of damage from its Flip Effect…"

Gomi coughed as a cloud of poison dust drifted over him.

He frowned. He took the last card in his hand, and set it in his Disk. A face-down card appeared in his Spell Zone.

He turned a card on his Disk, and Dabaran knelt in Defense Mode. (800 DEF)

"I'll end there…" he muttered.

**(G: 3,300) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 6,200)**

"My move…" said Serket, as she made a draw.

"I move Giant Axe Mummy to Attack Mode…"

The huge Zombie stood up. (1,700 ATK)

"Then I summon Wandering Mummy."

The creature that appeared was not one mummy, but two, and they seemed average as far as mummies went. (1,500 ATK)

"Now for your Monsters…" she said. "Giant Axe Mummy, clobber his Sacred Gredi!"

The huge mummy swung its weapon, knocking the Spellcaster backwards. She dissolved into grains of light.

"Next, my Wandering Mummy attacks your Leonis," continued Serket. "Double Pummel!"

Moving incredibly fast for a pair of corpses, the two mummies ganged up on Leonis, striking him repeatedly with their fists before he shattered.

"I never knew mummies could move so fast…" said Ember.

"You've obviously never fought a real one…" muttered Douglas.

"All right…" said Serket, as she held up her last card. "I use Book of Moon, to flip Poison Mummy back to set Defense Mode…"

The decayed corpse vanished, replaced by a set card.

"I don't need a Spell Card to do that to Giant Axe Mummy… It can do so via its own effect."

Giant Axe Mummy transformed into a set card as well.

"Wandering Mummy too…"

Finally, the last Zombie followed suit.

"But when Wandering Mummy does that, there's an added effect…"

The three set Monsters combined into one, and then spread out into three again.

"Like a game of three-card Monte…" muttered Gomi.

"Exactly…" said Serket, with a smile. "You don't know which is which now… If you attack, you could be attacking my Giant Axe Mummy, which would be bad if your Monster can't beat its Defense Score, or my Poison Mummy, which will take a notch out of your Life Points…

_And even worse… _thought Ember, _because Pollux is Level 4 and Dabaran is Level 3, Gomi can't make another Xyz Summon… Not unless he gets a good draw here…_

"So it's your move…" said Serket.

**(G: 2,700) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 6,200)**

**0000000**

Meanwhile…

Maddie couldn't help but stand there in awe… She had fought against a creature known as a Lizard King, a demonic lizard man who would make anyone shudder in their boots. Heck, she was almost killed by that monster!

But, what she was looking at now, it could rival the demonic lizard in terms of ugliness, ferocity and strength. The moment that Xander called this creature to the field, almost every monster that Maddie had summoned in its presence became paralyzed – Including the tokens that she summoned.

And now that her field was cleared… There was nothing stopping the creature from sinking its teeth into her… (MLP: 2300)

And Xander… All the while he just stood there calmly making all of his moves. (XLP: 4000)

"It was intriguing," Xander stated as he held up his fingers as if they were a gun, aimed directly at Maddie. "But its game… Over…"

The large, shadowed beast snarled loudly before it dashed over the field and slammed its mighty tail into the young Shadowchaser, knocking her into the ground. "AAAAH!" (MLP: 0)

The force of the attack knocked off the D-Gazer on Maddie's face and sent it bouncing a few feet away.

After about fifteen seconds or so, Maddie began to sit up, but almost slipped back to the ground when she saw something – The very same creature that just attacked her was looming over her. Its six yellow eyes narrowed down on her as it licked its chops in anticipation…

And just like that, the creature disappeared – And in its place was none other than Xander who held his hand towards Maddie. "Congratulations – You just gave me my first victory, Miss Maddie… It was an excellent first duel for me…"

Slowly, Maddie took Xander's hand and he immediately pulled her back to her feet, '_Just what the heck did I just see? The hologram should have vanished when the duel ended… So, what the heck just happened?'_

"You can release my hand now," Xander stated calmly, making Maddie jump slightly and release her grip. "And while you are at it, may I please have my winnings now?"

"Oh… R-Right," Maddie muttered as she reached into her pockets and quickly produced the chips that she dumped into Xander's hands. "Uh, good duel… I guess…"

"Indeed," Xander stated as he pocketed the chips and began to walk away. "May your future in this tournament be successful from now on."

"You too," Maddie muttered under her breath. '_Who in the world was that guy?'_

Xander only smirked to himself as he slowly disappeared into the woods, '_And with two thousand euros under my belt… Due to my Master's instructions, I will now stop holding back a little bit… I can fight a little more seriously.'_

**0000000**

Gomi drew a card.

He looked at Serket. Then his facedown card lifted up.

"I activate Alchemy Cycle," he said. "This Trap Card reduces the Attack Scores of all my Monsters to zero."

"You're kidding…" said Serket.

Apparently, he wasn't. The scores of both Pollux and Dabaran fell to nothing.

"It will all become clear once I play this Spell Card…" he said, as he played the card he had drawn.

"Star Light, Star Bright… Because my Monsters now have the same Attack Score, I can make one of them the same Level as the other.

"So, I'll make Dabaran the same Level as Pollux, meaning they're now both Level 4…

"Thus… I wish I may, I wish I might…"

The two Monsters formed into swirling vortex of energy again…

Then, with a blast of stellar energy, a huge, lumbering, armored creature appeared, made of equal parts silver and gold, and very pronounced shoulder-guards and gauntlets, all of which were pulsating with energy. It was covered with sharp edges, and its eyes glowed with celestial light. (2,400 ATK)

"Meet Sacred Beehive," said Gomi.

"Beehive?" said Serket, with a doubtful expression. "Exactly what about that thing suggests bees?"

"It refers to the Beehive Cluster, ya harpy!" shouted Douglas. "All of Gomi's Monsters are named after stars!

"His regular Monsters are named after stars in the constellations of the Zodiac, while his Xyzs are named after large clusters of stars. Hasn't it sunk in yet?"

Ember looked at him strangely.

"What?" he said. "I took an astronomy class or two in my time…"

"By the way, Serket…" said Gomi. "I just Xyz Summoned a Monster with the word 'Sacred' in its name, so the effects of Galaxy Wave _and _Star Sign of the Sacred activate."

A blast of energy shot out of the first Spell Card, striking Serket in the stomach. Then Gomi made a draw.

"And this is bad luck for you, because I just drew one of the most powerful Sacreds… Sacred Kaust!"

The stars of Sagittarius the Archer appeared behind him, and a man in a silvery suit, cap, and cape leapt onto the field, holding a longbow and a quiver of arrows. (1,800 ATK)

"And because Beehive has 2,400 Attack Points," said Gomi, "it doesn't have to worry about the possibility of the Monster it attacks being Giant Axe Mummy. In fact, I'm rather hoping that's the case.

"Attack the Monster on the left! Shooting Star Shower!"

Beehive lifted its hand, and shooting stars started to rain down from the heavens. Giant Axe Mummy appeared on the card, and it groaned…

Then a particularly big projectile hit it, blowing it away with a deafening explosion and leaving a crater.

"Bulls eye," he said.

"You made a lucky guess, pal…" growled Serket.

"Let's see how lucky I am now," said Gomi, as Kaust fit an arrow into his bow. "The card on the right, Kaust!"

Kaust fired, and Wandering Mummy appeared on the card. The arrow hit, blowing the two zombies into dust and scraps of linens.

**(G: 2,700) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 5,700)**

"Make your move…" said Gomi.

Serket drew a card.

"Oh, I pass…" she said. "It's your turn…"

He looked at it, and then set it on his Disk. A face-down card appeared in his Spell Zone.

"My last set card is Poison Mummy…" said Serket. "It has 1,800 Defense Points… To defeat it, you'd have to attack with Sacred Beehive..."

"No I don't, truthfully…" said Gomi, "but… I'm going to attack it with Beehive anyway…"

The Shooting Star Shower started again, and Poison Mummy appeared briefly before it was blown to shards.

"I still lose 500 Life Points from its Flip Effect," said Gomi, "but if you were thinking that the direct attack you'd get would be from the weaker Monster, guess again…"

Kaust aimed an arrow at Serket.

"You see, this is where Beehive's effect comes into play… Once per turn, when a Sacred battles, I can detach one of its Overlay Units to increase that Sacred's Attack Score by 1,000 points!"

Kaust's Attack Score shot up to 2,800 as he fired his weapon. Serket's eyes almost bugged out as it struck her in the chest.

**(G: 2,200) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 2,900)**

"Okay, now I'm angry…" she said, through her teeth.

"This is it!" said Douglas. "If Serket doesn't pull out any more surprises, Gomi can take her down next turn in a heartbeat!"

"Don't jinx it, Douglas…" said Ember.

"My turn is over…" said Gomi, "which means Beehive's effect wears off, and Kaust's Attack Score returns to 1,800."

"I draw one card…" said Serket.

"And I play Monster Reborn!" she shouted.

The one 3-Hump Lacooda that was left in her Graveyard appeared in Defense Mode. (1,500 DEF)

"Then, once again," she said, as she played her other card, "I play Inferno Reckless Summon…"

The other two Lacooda appeared, in fighting positions. (500 ATKx2)

"I don't have any other copies of Kaust…" muttered Gomi. "He's a rare one…"

"Too bad," said Serket, "because once again, I sacrifice two of my Lacoodas to make three draws…"

Two of her Lacoodas (the ones in Attack Mode) dissolved into granules of light, and she drew three cards.

"Perfect!" she shouted. "I play Recurring Nightmare!"

She threw a Spell Card into her Disk.

"This card lets me recover two Dark-Attribute Monsters from my Graveyard, so long as their Defense Scores are no higher than zero.

"And as you already discovered, some very important Monsters in my deck fit the bill…"

She took the two Endless Decays from her discard slot.

"It was fun using those other Zombies… But I've got my aces back again…"

"So?" said Gomi. "My Life Points are WAY below 8,000 now… If you summon them, their Attack Scores will be…"

"Exactly 1,100," replied Serket, "and they'll be worthless…

"But… I have this…"

She flipped a card in her hand around.

"Polymerization?" gasped Gomi.

"That's right!" exclaimed Serket, as the Fusion card appeared on her side of the field. "And by fusing both Endless Decays together…"

The ground rumbled, and then split open… A huge creature started to emerge…

Standing in front of Gomi was the biggest mummy he had ever seen. It was covered in rotting burial linens, and wore a belt that held human skulls and finger bones. It wore a long, tattered cape and a hood, the collar of which had human teeth sewn into it. A golden amulet shaped like an asp was around its neck.

Gomi could see very little of its face beneath its hood… The only thing he could see were its eyes… Glowing, red, evil-looking eyes…

"In the name of all that's unholy…" gasped Douglas.

"I give you the Minion of Set!" laughed Serket. "And the way it gains points is almost the opposite of how Endless Decay does.

"We take 8,000, the amount of Life Points I started at, and then subtract my current amount. The result is this creature's Attack AND Defense Score!"

(5,100 ATK)

"You make me angry…" said Serket, "then I show what a real bitch I am!"

"HEY!" shouted Gomi. "There's gonna be kids watching this, y'know?"

Serket chuckled a little.

"Oh, please, they've heard worse," replied Serket. "Do you actually think that sticking a TV-MA rating on a show is going to discourage kids from watching it? News flash, pal, it tends to do the exact opposite."

Gomi let out a long sigh. She was right, of course, but she didn't have to emphasize it…

"Minion of Set, demolish his Sacred Kaust!" shouted Serket.

The huge mummy roared, and made a rush as the Sacred.

"I activate Ego Boost!" shouted Gomi, as his Spell Card lifted up. "It increases Kaust's Attack Score by 1,000 points!"

"Nice try, but that won't be enough to save you!" laughed Serket.

"AND I use Sacred Beehive's effect!" shouted Gomi.

"HUH?" said Serket. "You can use it during my turn?"

"Yes I can!" said Gomi, as he discarded Pollux's card.

Kaust's Attack Score rose to 3,800, right before the giant Zombie's fist blew him to little pieces, throwing Gomi on his back.

Gomi groaned and sat up, slowly catching his breath.

**(G: 900) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 2,900)**

"I still lost 1,300 Life Points…" he muttered. "But at least I didn't lose the duel…"

Serket looked at him in disbelief.

"Take… your… turn…" she growled.

_All right, Gomi… _thought Gomi. _If ever you needed a winner, now's the time!_

He drew the top card off of his deck.

He played it, and Monster Reborn appeared in front of him. As he did so, the stars of Scorpio the Scorpion appeared behind him.

"Arise…" he said. "Sacred Antares!"

The Sacred that appeared this time was larger, and looked more powerful than the other rank-and-file Sacred. It was an eight-foot-tall android with a stern face and a think, lanky frame. It carried an odd weapon that looked like a spear blade connected to a length of hose. (2,400 ATK)

_Mmm…_ thought Serket. _Obviously another card he lost when I played Hand Destruction… I really should watch that…_

"By simply summoning this," continued Gomi, "I'm allowed to take another Sacred from my Graveyard…"

He took Kaust from his discard slot, and looked at the card. Then he threw it on his Disk, and the Sacred archer appeared again. (1,800 ATK)

"Now I use Kaust's effect…" said Gomi.

"Effect?" said Serket.

"Uh huh…" said Ember. "Gomi did say that Kaust was a powerful card… But he hasn't used its effect yet…"

"I'll tell you what its effect is…" said Gomi. "Kaust can either raise or lower the Level of a Sacred Monster by 1, _and _I'm allowed to use that effect twice in one turn!

"In exchange for that, he can't be used for Synchro Summons… But they aren't my style anyway…

"So, I'll use that effect on Kaust himself raising his Level from 4 to 5.

"Then, I'll use the effect on Antares, lowering its Level from 6 to 5.

"And now that I've got two Level 5 Monsters, I'll build the Overlay Network one more time…"

The two Sacreds combined into the spiraling portal of energy.

"I Xyz Summon… Sacred Pleiades!"

There was an explosion of light, and a powerful, armored, caped Warrior strode onto the field. Suggesting more a cosmic hero than anything else, his armor was decorated with celestial symbols, and he wore a crested helmet. He held a weapon that could best be described as a harpoon with an overly large head. (2,500 ATK)

"I draw one card due to Star Sign of the Sacred," said Gomi.

He made a draw.

"And you take 500 points of damage due to Galaxy Wave!"

Serket groaned as the bolt of energy hit her again.

"Big… deal…" she said. "It can't beat Minion of Set…"

"Pleiades isn't going to fight your Monster at all," said Gomi. "He has a much better way of handling it…"

Pleiades pointed his weapon at Minion of Set, and a black hole started to form behind the huge mummy.

"By getting rid of one Overlay Unit, he can send one card on the field back to its owner's hand."

Serket gasped as Minion of Set was sucked through the dark vortex.

"So much for him…" said Gomi. "Sacred Beehive… Obliterate the last Monster!"

Beehive called down the celestial fire one more time, and the last 3-Hump Lacooda was incinerated.

"Now for you…" said Gomi, as Pleiades pointed his weapon at Serket. "Attack directly with Celestial Giga Blast!"

The sky suddenly turned to night…

Then a beam of pure light shot down from the heavens, honing in on the pro duelist. Serket screamed…

**(G: 900) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 0)**

The daylight slowly returned as the two Sacreds faded away. As Serket lay on the ground groaning, Ember walked up to Gomi.

"And _you _were afraid of _me?" _she asked.

**0000000000**

When Serket finally got up, she didn't say much. She simply threw the promised ante on the ground, and walked away in a huff.

"Some people never learn…" said Gomi, as he gathered up the twenty chips.

"Maybe she'll at least be humbled a bit, laddie," said Douglas. "She might figure out from this that she's not as powerful as she thought she was.

"If not… Well, yes, some people truly _never _learn."

He slung his duffle bag over his shoulder.

"Anyway… I'll be seein' you two around…"

"Bye," said Ember.

She looked at Gomi.

_Something about Gomi… _she thought. _There's a lot more to him than he lets on…_

_Defeating an army of gibberlings is probably harder than he admits… And the way he duels… He doesn't let anything unnerve him, even taking a direct hit from a Monster with 4,000 Attack Points! That's even more than what I took from Ccapac Apu!_

"So, what next?" asked Gomi.

Ember was a little startled. She had been lost in thought.

Gomi chuckled.

"C'mon…" he said. "I'll buy you lunch… Oh wait… The food here is free…"

"Don't sweat it…" said Ember, with a grin. "Sharing a free lunch is even better…"

**0000000000**

**MINION OF SET (Monster Card)**

**Zombie/Dark/Fusion/Effect/Lvl8/?ATK/?DEF**

_Endless Decay + Endless Decay_

**Effect: **This card can only be Special Summoned via Fusion Summon, and only by using the above-named Fusion Material Monsters. When this card is Fusion Summoned, subtract your current Life Point score from 8,000; the result becomes this card's ATK and DEF for as long as it is face-up on the field.

**0000000**

_**Ace: Man! I can't believe this! I'm already behind in the tournament! I need to find an opponent… Any opponent will do! Hell, I'd settle facing off against that annoying ophidian Professor Percival or that bugbear Otis… Or… Or…**_

_**Uh… Never mind… I think I can deal with this! Heh… I'm looking forward to this actually, an opponent that's only willing to go all out on the dueling field! And I can even cut loose here too!**_

_**Heh, somehow though… I get the feeling that this kind of opponent would send alarms ringing back at the home base though…**_

"_**Big Bang Dragon Blow!" is coming soon.**_


	7. Big Bang Dragon Blow

_Lux did the honors for this chapter. Time for Ace to shine once again, because I know you all want it…._

**0000000000**

_**When I joined up with the Shadowchasers, I wasn't fully onboard with the fact that we settled things with a children's card game. I had never really gotten into the whole card game scene before I joined up, although I did have friends and family who were into the whole card game scene, so I had a basic understanding of the cards and rules, but I was a fair-weather player.**_

_**But that wasn't a problem for me when I joined up, I took to the game rather quickly when I got the thrill of dueling, at least when my life was on the line. It was actually quite a thrill after I got used to dueling like that, to the point that when I dueled I would feel the tension rising.**_

_**Even when I dueled against the rest of my group for practice, I would often feel a sort of natural high – Kinda like adrenaline pumping through your veins when you actually fight against someone fist to fist. **_

_**I guess it comes with the territory of being young, or for the fact that I'm becoming more attuned to this game.**_

_**Besides, thanks to this game I was able to meet some real good people – Hyde, Faye, Jalal, and I guess Kyon and Barron can be thrown into that group as well. The fact that I'm a part of something bigger now, thanks to this game, is enough to get me pumped up for this tournament!**_

_**Now…**_

_**All that's left is to actually get some points for this tournament – And I think my first opponent was a gift from above. Or, from what I can tell… Probably a gift from hell…**_

**TTTTTTT**

_**Draw 7**_

_**Big Bang Dragon Blow**_

**TTTTTTTTT**

It had been a few minutes since Ace had dashed from the area where her first duel was rightfully stolen from her; she should've been the one to take on that sexist fratboy – Not that guy living in fairy tales.

And now thanks to this event, she was doing a mad dash for an opponent! But it seemed as though the woods themselves were empty at this time…

"Damn it," Ace snarled under her breath as she stopped near one of the many trees in the forest and leaned up against it.

She didn't want to admit it, but maybe Bruno was right this time – But with that dumb satyr McGuinness insulting her, Bruno stealing her duel against the jerk, and the most shocking event: Kyon being a Blue Knight – The young Shadowchaser nearly lost her head in all the confusion.

She just needed to get away to blow off some steam.

And what better way to vent her frustrations than to actually duel against someone? It was a way to have violence without actually hurting someone (at least not intentionally).

But here Ace was, all alone in the woods, like some poorly written horror movie screenplay – With no one to duel and nothing to really do.

Well, except to curse out the air, but even that has its limitations.

"Damn it all!" Ace growled as she jumped from the tree she was leaning against and slammed her foot into the large tree, making the wood shake wildly.

"AAAAH!"

"Huh?" Ace questioned as she looked around, and then looked up – Just in time to have someone or something crash into her. "URRRK!"

A small amount of dirt flew through the air from the impact of what happened.

Apparently, what had fallen from the tree was a young woman – Of course, Ace wouldn't know that since she was technically knocked out from the force of the fallen woman.

Meanwhile, a few yards away…

Xander merely blinked a few times as he watched the scene play out in front of him, but shrugged his shoulders before he continued on his trek. "Not important."

Yes, he had somewhere to be, and couldn't waste time with some petty peon getting hurt…

**TTTTTT**

A few minutes passed since Ace was knocked out, but now she was finally starting to regain her senses, "Ugh, anyone get the license plate of that bugbear? I think he just sideswiped me…"

Ace tried to push herself up, but felt herself being pinned down by something rather heavy to the grassy ground. "What in the… HEY! GET OFF ME!"

The person in question who was on her was a young woman (who looked a year or two older than Ace herself) with long black hair pulled back into a three long tails that ended with blonde tips to them and the middle hair tail had a blue bandana tied around it. Her slim figure was covered with black Chinese dress (with a golden dragon styled on it) and a baggy dark blue jacket that had a number of zippers and buckles on it. The girl's eyes spun around as she groaned in pain, "Ooh, what happened?"

Ace barred her teeth as she began to push the girl off of her, "You fell on me! Now get off of me!"

The other girl shook her head and leered at Ace, "Well excuse me for taking a quick nap! I was up all night preparing myself for this tournament and I needed some rest…"

"Well, who sleeps in a tree?" Ace barked.

"Who kicks a tree?"

Both of the women leapt from each other, sparks clashed between the two as they continually glared at each other – If looks could kill, both young women would be six feet under the moment they laid eyes on each other. This heated glare stand-off remained like this for a few moments, at least until the Chinese dressed woman looked Ace over, looking for something…

A smirk slowly curled on her face as she stood up straight, "So, you don't have a blue scarf on your person… A 'Shadowchaser' is it?"

"Yeah, what of it?" Ace questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm rather curious," the Chinese dressed woman questioned as she rubbed her chin. "What exactly is a Shadowchaser? I've never heard of that term until I was invited to this tournament… Is it a type of underground duelist league?"

'_Well, I guess someone could think of it like that,'_ Ace thought to herself before she shook her head once more, returning to glare at the Chinese dressed woman. "It's more of a profession – Something you wouldn't understand."

'_Either that, or you'd think I'd be crazy.'_

"Humph, that's what the first opponent said to me," the Chinese dressed woman growled under her breath. "Whatever a Shadowchaser is, you must all be of the lowest order of honor and respect. I've met two other 'Shadowchasers' before you, the first one was my first opponent in this tournament – He had so much pride that it was his downfall…

"The second one I had the misfortune of running into was a ragged old woman – Kept referring to herself as 'Baba' something, and she knocked her Disk against my head a few times – Just because I didn't want to duel against her…

"And then there's you – You who knocked me out of that tree and woke me up from a nice dream!"

"How the hell was I supposed to know you were up there?" Ace snarled back as she stomped forward.

The Chinese dressed woman did the same, and the two's faces were only a few inches apart and had sparks flying between the two of them. "You ever hear of looking up? In case you didn't notice, I'm not wearing green or brown!"

"I don't exactly make it a habit in looking up trees!" Ace countered as she lifted a fist up. "I live in Vegas, and that place is kind of devoid of actual trees, in case you didn't know!"

"Enough stalling!" The Chinese dressed woman barked back as she slapped Ace's fist away. "I think you owe me an apology! After all, I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Well I didn't either!"

This was a common scenario, if anyone ever met someone who had a similar personality, one of two things would happen. The first thing that could happen was that the two would instantly become friends based on the fact that they would probably have similar interests, dreams, goals, and etc. It would be a good way to make friends that way…

Of course, as we've all just witnessed, that's not the case. We've gone with the more common outcome of two people with similar interests meeting and that would be that they would hate each other – butting heads together until things get out of control. Yeah, this was one of those times.

The two young women kept slinging insults at each other until finally…

"Alright! That's it!" Ace barked loudly as she turned around and crossed her arms over her chest. "I wanted an opponent, but you're just too annoying! I'd probably walk across the field half way through the duel just to hit you upside the head!"

"Big talk," the Chinese dressed woman spat back. "You're probably afraid that you're going to lose against a vastly superior opponent. Are all Shadowchasers cowards like you?"

Ace stopped in her tracks and spun around on her heels, her eyes targeted directly on the Chinese dressed woman. "You don't know anything about us Shadowchasers, or what we have to deal with in a single day! I thought I'd be the bigger person here, but screw that!

"I'll gladly take you on and show you what a real duelist can do!"

"Glad to hear it!" The Chinese dressed woman laughed as she leapt back and slammed her foot into the very same tree that she was sleeping in. A few seconds later, a Duel Disk fell from the branches and into her hands. "But before we begin, it's only appropriate that you know the name of the person who'll kick you out of this tournament – I am Xiaomu Lei-Fang! A regional champion from Hong-Kong itself!"

As Xiaomu slipped her Duel Disk on her arm, Ace snapped her Duel Disk into action. "And I'm Ace! That's all you need to know!"

"Very well… Ace," Xiaomu chuckled as she kicked the tree once more, this time making a D-Gazer fall from the tree. As she slipped it over her left eye and ear, Xiaomu struck an overly dramatic stance. "So, how do you wish to play this? Care to duel with only five hundred euros or…"

"All or nothing for me!" Ace shouted as she pumped a fist up into the air. "I'm willing to put everything on the line in this duel like I do with everything in my work!"

"So, you have fifteen-hundred euros?" Xiaomu mused with her hand at her chin.

"Uh, n-not really," Ace muttered under her breath as she rubbed the back of her head. "I… I haven't really dueled yet…"

"I see, then this will be easy then," Xiaomu chuckled as she wagged her finger at the tomboyish Shadowchaser. "I'll only have to wager a thousand euros. Therefore even if I lose, I'll be able to stay in this tournament."

"Yeah, yeah," Ace muttered under her breath. "Fine! I'll accept!"

"Good!" Xiaomu as her Duel Disk activated. "D-Gazer set on! Duel Disk go!"

Ace bit her lower lip as both duelists drew from the top of their decks. "Duel!"

"I am glad you decided to accept my challenge, 'Ace'," Xiaomu stated as she lifted her arms up. "Therefore, you may have the first turn." (XLP: 8000)

"Gee, thanks," Ace muttered as she drew from the top of her deck. '_Hmm… I don't know about some of these cards that Kyon suggested that I add to my deck… Some of them are a little too 'cutesy' for my tastes. But I can't argue with effects.'_ (ALP: 8000)

"Are you going to just look at your cards or duel?" Xiaomu questioned as she tapped her foot against the ground.

"Give me a minute!" Ace snapped back before she sighed loudly. "Argh! Fine! I summon… Cat Girl…"

Ace reluctantly placed the card onto her Duel Disk, and several leaves popped from the trees around and swirled around until a shadowed figure appeared between them. Leaping from the leaves was a rather energetic young lass that was dressed up to look like a cat with brown fur and orange patches. Her face was covered but she had a cat claws on her hands and feet, a pair of cat ears atop of her masked head and a long catty tail that wagged as the girl spun around (1200/1600). The girl mewed loudly before she began to groom her mask's fur.

Ace's face was a bright red, '_Kyon… I'm so going to kill you!'_

All the while, Xiaomu was snickering loudly at the sight of the Monster, "T-That's your opening move? Whahahahahahaha!"

Ace slammed her foot into the ground, digging the boot into the ground, "Yes! Yes! I'm aware of how weird my Monster looks! I don't need you to rub it in!"

However, Xiaomu's laughter continued for a few moments, all the while Ace slipped a pair of cards into her Duel Disk, making them appear behind her yawning Cat Girl. "You got that out of your system?"

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry about that," Xiaomu snickered under her breath. "Just didn't expect a Monster like that from you with how you acted."

"Please just try to hold it for the sake of this duel," Ace growled.

"No promises," Xiaomu replied as she wagged the card she just drew up. "Now, let me show you how a real first move works, and to start off, I play the Spell Card Terraforming! I'll be honest here, I wasn't expecting to draw this card during my first turn, but I won't complain about that."

A single card popped out from the Chinese duelist's deck and slipped into her hand. "And since I've got it, why not play it? I activate the Field Spell Card – Temple of the Orochi Dragons!"

The ground all around the two duelists began to quake, the Cat Girl's fur stood on end as she dashed behind Ace. Ace blinked a few times as the trees began to twist and turn until they formed into wooden statues that resembled that of oriental dragons that each seemed to be looking at the center of the field. With good reason too, as the ground began to open up in the middle of the field with a large clay vase rising out from the ground, on the vase were a number of dragon murals that were from a number of different cultures.

Ace whistled as the Cat Girl slowly began to crawl out from behind her, "Wow, just wow… And what can this thing do? Something with Dragons?"

"Yes, but at the moment, its only making the scenery much more impressive," Xiaomu replied as she slapped a card onto her Duel Disk. "But enough about the Field Spell, we're going with a Monster now! Luster Dragon!"

A bright blue light gleamed through the air as a sapphire-covered Dragon flew over the holographic temple, roaring loudly as it floated down in front of Xiaomu (1900/1600). Ace whistled once again, "Wow, I can't believe people are still using that card… I thought it disappeared…"

"Humph, do not speak ill of my Dragon!" Xiaomu roared back. "He is strong! He is wise! He is to be respected! He is a classic!"

"You're essentially calling him old-fashioned," Ace commented with a dulled look in her eyes.

"Perhaps, but he's stronger than your little kitty cat!" Xiaomu barked as she threw her hand forward. "Luster Dragon! Attack her kitty!"

The large blue dragon drew in a mighty breath and immediately unleashed an azure flame that flew through the air towards the catty girl…

However, the cute Monster mewed loudly, creating a shockwave with her voice that scattered the flames around her. Ace smiled as she snapped her fingers, "Sorry, but your out-of-date dragon won't be declawing this cat, not when she's got this special ability! Once during each of your turns, I can negate one of your attacks! So nice try!"

Xiaomu growled as she looked at the last four cards in her hand. "We'll see about that – I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

The set card materialized behind the large Luster Dragon, "And I'll end my turn…"

"Not yet you won't!" Ace announced as she pushed a button on her Duel Disk. "I activate my Spell Card – Hand Destruction! Now both of us send two cards from our hands to the Graveyard and then draws two new cards!"

Xiaomu muttered as she pulled two cards from her hand, "Fine, I'll discard Mu Long and Masked Dragon from my hand."

"And I'll send Flame Tiger and Chain Dog to the grave," Ace stated as she slipped the two cards into her Graveyard.

Then both duelists pulled the top two cards from their decks and slid the cards into their hands. "Now, your turn is over with."

"Yes, yes, now let's see what you can do now," Xiaomu replied with a smirk. "I can't wait to see what other cute little Monsters you'll bring out."

"It's just this one card!" Ace snapped as she threw her free hand up into the air. "But how about I show you what I can really do! I summon Beast Striker!"

As Ace slapped the card onto her Duel Disk, a loud roar echoed through the holographic temple and a large ape-like Monster crashed into the ground in front of the Shadowchaser, this large beast waved its large mallet through the air a few times before it slammed it into the ground (1850/400). "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"

"I'm not that impressed," Xiaomu stated as she raised an eyebrow. "It can't even beat my Dragon."

"Oh, I know," Ace stated as her Duel Disk's Graveyard slot began to glow brightly. "But then again, I'm not done with my summoning! You see, since I've got two Beasts out on the field, I can now Special Summon one of the cards I just discarded during your turn!

"So, come on out, Chain Dog!"

Quite a few loud barks echoed through the air, making the Cat Girl hiss loudly as a large white dog with black spots dug itself from the ground, its golden chains along its body wrapped tightly around it (1600/1100). The Cat Girl hissed at the dog while the Chain Dog snarled back. Ace sighed, "This kinda reminds me of the office – Ever since Hyde left, Barron and Faye have been like that…"

"So, would that make you the Beast Striker then?" Xiaomu questioned.

"Don't even joke about that," Ace stated with a look of pure malice seeping from her eyes.

"Too late," Xiaomu replied with a light chuckle.

"We'll see how long you'll have that attitude," Ace growled as she snapped her fingers loudly, making all three of her Monsters transform into earthly colored lights. "I was hoping to use this against a certain spark, but I guess I could use this in practice! I Overlay all three of my Monsters!"

A large vortex appeared in the middle of the field between Ace and Xiaomu, absorbing all three of the Monsters into it before it exploded into a bright earthly light. "So, I'll bust out the big dog himself for ya!"

From the sparks and vortex emerged an incredibly large, mechanical black Doberman dog that was dressed in the garb of a sumo wrestler – Albeit it had the clothing tied around its neck as if it were a collar, but it was still intimidating, especially since the dog itself towered over the field, almost twenty feet tall! Three lights floated around the dog's body as it roared loudly, shaking the very ground with its might (2600/2100). "So meet the Yokuza of the Animal Kingdom himself – Sumo King Dog!"

"An Xyz Monster," Xiaomu scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "I'd be more impressed, but a creature like that is a mongrel when compared to what I hold within the depths of my deck."

"Maybe," Ace replied as she pumped her fist up. "But know this, Shamu, until you get to that depth, this guy will…"

"Hold on a second," Xiaomu interrupted with her arms crossed. "What did you just call me?"

"I called you by your name," Ace dully replied. "Now don't interrupt, I was just about to kick your ass! Sumo King Dog! Smash her dragon into the ground!"

Slamming both of its right paws into the ground, the Sumo King Dog lifted up its left legs and brought them down as well, shaking the very earth with its power! Then, with a second deafening roar, the large beast charged across the field, its target the only other creature on the field.

"I don't think so!" Xiaomu roared back as she pushed a button on her Duel Disk. "I'm gonna put that mutt down! I play Dimensional Prison!"

A large rift appeared before the charging Sumo King Dog, the air quickly being drawn into the rift, "So now we'll have to say goodbye to that big puppy of yours!"

However, one of the lights that floated around the dog's body flew into the rift and shattered it like glass. Xiaomu's eyes widened as the dog slammed its entire body into the Luster Dragon, smashing the dragon into the ground. When the Dog pushed itself up from the ground, the Luster Dragon's body was as flat as a pancake and blew away with the wind. (XLP: 7300)

"First blood goes to me!" Ace laughed loudly with a smirk on her face. "So, in case you didn't notice, if you activate a Trap while my dog is on the field, I can ditch one of his Overlay Units to make that Trap go boom!"

"Good to know," Xiaomu stated as she held up the Luster Dragon card in between two of her fingers. "However, you're not the only one with an effect. I use the effect of my Field Spell now! You see, once per turn, when a Dragon is destroyed or removed from play, I can instead place the card underneath my Field card, so Luster Dragon goes under my card."

Xiaomu's Field Spell Card zone flipped open and she immediately slipped the card into the zone beneath her field card.

All the while, Ace raised an eyebrow, "Okay… Why would you do that? I never heard of an effect like that…"

"You'll see," Xiaomu stated as a bright green light began to float around the temple area. "But for now, we'll just have to have some fun. Anything else you'd like to do before I show you a real turn?"

Looking over the last three cards in her hand, Ace shook her head, "Then by all means, show me a real turn…"

'_Although, I'm kinda worried about this Field Spell of hers… I don't know what to expect from something that has this effect. It's almost like this card has its own Overlay Units…'_

Xiaomu drew from the top of her deck and smirked as she looked at the cards in her hand, "Now then, I believe its time I show you what my family's deck is capable of! I summon Shui Long!"

From the temple's grounds, a large geyser of water erupted from the ground and began to solidify until it formed into a large serpentine dragon with blue fish scales with many long fins atop of its body. The dragon's piranha-like face opened up to reveal several rows of sharp teeth (1300/1100). "And that's not all, thanks to there being one Dragon-Type Monster under my Field Spell, it activates one of its three other effects! All Dragons gain four hundred attack and defense points!"

A blue aura began to seep into Shui Long's body, making the dragon grow larger slightly (1300/1100 + 400/400). "But don't get too used to this guy. I'm activating the effect of a Monster in my hand – Jin Long!"

Xiaomu spun around the card in her fingers, revealing another dragon that she lifted up, "You see, this Monster's effect activates while in my hand – And by returning one face-up Dragon-Type Monster on my field to the deck…"

Shui Long roared loudly before it disappeared in a white mist…

"I can Special Summon Jin Long from my hand!" Xiaomu roared loudly as she slapped the card onto her Duel Disk allowing the mist to conglomerate in front of her.

The mist began to shine brightly as it began to form into a sleek bipedal dragon completely covered with gleaming steel with blades at the ends of its arms to resemble that of a pair of wings (1600/1400 + 400/400). The Dragon screeched loudly as Xiaomu pulled her deck out from her Duel Disk, "Of course, that's not the important part… What is important is the fact that my Shui Long was returned to the deck! You see, when its removed from the field I can Special Summon another Dragon from my deck, save for the fact that it has to be Level four or lower and has to have less than fifteen hundred attack points…"

"Go right ahead and summon it back then," Ace chuckled as she lifted her hand up. "Your Shui-Long is more than capable of summoning itself again since it qualifies."

"True, I could do that," Xiaomu answered as she plucked a card from her deck, and then immediately slid the cards back into her Duel Disk. "But then I wouldn't be able to get past your eyesore of a mutt – So, I'll summon Houo Long!"

A powerful burst of flames erupted from the middle of the air in front of Xiaomu, the flames forming into a long, flame covered serpentine dragon that had an emblem on its head that had the Chinese character for Fire embedded in it (1200/1500 + 400/400). The dragon roared loudly as more flames began to pulsate from its body, "And when this card is Special Summoned due to the effect of a Dragon, one Monster on your field is automatically destroyed!

"So unless your dog king can stop Monster effects, he's about to go boom!"

And indeed it did, for the flames on the Houo Dragon flew through the air and crashed into the large mechanical dog, igniting the large beast in a fiery explosion that made Ace stagger back slightly. "URK!"

"And unless that face down card is a Trap Card," Xiaomu snickered as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, both of her dragons reeling up. "I think my Dragons will want to get acquainted with you... Say hello, boys!"

Both Dragons flew over the field directly at Ace who lifted her arms up in defense, however, when Jin Long brought down its bladed arms on the young Shadowchaser, she yelped and jumped back just in time to take Houo Long's fiery tackle straight to her stomach and sent her skidding backwards. "Gargh!" (ALP: 4400)

With both dragons returning back to Xiaomu's field, Ace bit her lower lip before she shook her head, "Not bad… Not bad at all."

"But of course!" Xiaomu laughed loudly as she placed her hands on her hips. "Wanna give up now?"

"Hell to the no!" Ace roared back.

"Good to hear!" Xiaomu stated as she took one of the remaining three cards in her hand and slipped it into her Duel Disk, making it appear behind both of her Monsters. "Then I'll end my turn by setting one card face down. Go right ahead!"

Ace looked at her Graveyard and immediately shook her head, '_It can wait… At least for now…'_

The young Shadowchaser drew from the top of her deck and looked at the card she drew, but tossed it into her hand all the while she pulled another card from her hand, "I summon Playful Possum!"

In a small cloud of smoke, a small brown furred possum appeared in front of Ace, barely moving as if it was frozen stiff from the two dragons that loomed in front of it (800/600). "Of course, he won't be staying long…"

"Yes, you intend on using its effect to summon Green Baboon," Xiaomu growled with a smirk on her face. "I wasn't born yesterday… I know what a Beast deck can do!"

Ace rolled her eyes at Xiaomu's statement, "Yeesh, then I guess there's no problem with me using its effect right now!"

With a sharp squeak, the Possum popped into a large cloud of smoke that floated through the air. However a large roar blew the smoke away and in the possum's place was an incredibly large green furred baboon that was dressed in wooden armor with a large ragged tree in one of its hands. The beast snarled and snorted loudly as both of the dragon's on Xiaomu's field staggered backwards (2600/1800). "So what do you think?" (ALP: 3400)

"I think you're starting to become a predictable opponent," Xiaomu replied as she spun around a card in her hand, revealing the Monster Tri-Horned Dragon. "I activate the effect of a Dragon in my Graveyard! To call on this creature's powers, I must discard another dragon whose Level is seven or higher… And Tri-Horned Dragon counts!"

The Chinese duelist slipped the card into her Duel Disk's Graveyard slot while pulling another card from the same slot, and in one swift motion slapped the card onto her Duel Disk. "I call forth Mu Long!"

Several roots shot from the ground near the other two dragons on Xiaomu's field, gnarling and entwining with each other until they shaped up into the shape of a Chinese dragon made entirely out of wood and dirt, with the main body still inside the ground (0/2400 + 400/400). "The dragon of the forest… Seems to be more than a match for you Defender of the Forest…"

'_Damn it,'_ Ace thought to herself as she looked at the coiling dragon. '_Thanks to this Field Spell, I won't be able to get past that eyesore…'_

"Now I have three Dragons on my field," Xiaomu chuckled with a lick of her lips. "Soon, you'll be overrun with Dragons! But before you try anything else, I play my face down Trap Card Offerings to Orochi!"

Xiaomu's face down card flipped up to reveal a Lady of D surrounded by several Chinese Dragons that coiled around her body, "This Trap Card can only be activated when two conditions are met, and since those conditions _have_ been met, I can select one low-Level dragon from my deck and slip it under my Field Spell."

With a smile plastered on her face, Xiaomu yanked the deck from her Duel Disk and fanned the cards in front of her, "This time, I think I'll send a familiar face under it…"

Grasping the card between two of her free fingers, Xiaomu fitted the deck back into her Duel Disk and turned the card around in between her fingers revealing the water dragon – Shui Long. "So, I'll slip my loyal dragon into my Field Spell…"

As Xiaomu slipped the card beneath her Field Spell, a blue light began to float around the temple. "Now, you're more than welcomed to continue your turn."

Ace grumbled under her breath as she looked at the cards in her hand, '_Man, what a time for me to not have Heavy Storm or Mystical Space Typhoon – what is she planning on with her Field Spell?_

'_Oh well, I'll just smash through her right now then!'_

"Green Baboon! Only you can prevent forest fires!"

The Green Baboon blinked a few times before he turned his head towards Ace with a confused look in his eyes. Ace growled and tapped her foot a few times before she barked loudly, "That means smash that fire dragon!"

The Green Baboon had an epiphany before it turned its attention back towards the duel and leapt through the air, bashing its club into the surprised Houo Long until the flames scattered about the field. (XLP: 6300)

"Yeah!" Ace shouted as she snapped her fingers. "What ya think of me now?"

Xiaomu chuckled under her breath as she held up Houo Long's card, "I think you're a real help. Remember, thanks to my Field Spell, my Dragon doesn't go to the grave, it goes under my Field Spell instead!"

As the Chinese duelist slipped the card beneath her Field Spell, and a red light began to float around the field now, granting three orbs of light to float about the field. Xiaomu laughed loudly as she struck a dramatic pose, "So now then evildoer, you can keep on fighting me, but you won't be able to win in the end!"

"Evildoer?" Ace hissed with her eyes narrowed. '_I'm one of the good guys! _

'… _W-Well, I may not be the best Shadowchaser around, but I sure as hell ain't an evildoer!'_

"Yes! Evildoer!" Xiaomu retorted as she placed her hands on her hips. "After all, with a name like Shadowchaser, your group's definitely shifty – Especially with the large number of people who are a part of it, you can't be up to any good!"

"For the love of, listen up Mao Moo!" Ace roared back. "I may not be the best person around, but I'm sure as hell no bad guy! What makes you think I'm a bad guy anyway?"

"Did you forget why we got into this duel?" Xiaomu seethed between her teeth. "You practically kicked me out of a tree!"

"Oh for the love of… How was I supposed to know you were sleeping up there?" Ace retorted.

"Enough!" Xiaomu sighed with a roll of her eyes. "Just finish your turn!"

"Fine!" Ace shouted back as she slipped a card into her Duel Disk, making another set card appear behind her large baboon. "One card set, and I'll end my turn!"

"Now… Watch this!" Xiaomu announced as she pulled off the top card from her deck.

**TTTTTT**

Meanwhile, in the forest near where he had dueled Ember, Hakata was sulking. He realized now that this had all been a bad idea.

Then a strange chill blew through the forest.

He looked, and saw a ghostly woman looking at him. A phantom in a sexy, low-cut dress.

It was, in fact, the same ghostly woman who had been with Zanth, the one whom Xander had called his secretary.

Hakata stood up, strangely drawn to the odd woman. She smiled sweetly, and outstretched her arms… He started to walk towards her, ready to meet the hug she was offering…

Then the eerie scene was broken.

"SARAH!" screamed a voice that echoed through the forest.

A look of fright appeared on the yuki-onna's face. She was seriously busted.

She vanished in a cloud of mist. Hakata shook his head, the spell broken.

"What was THAT all about?" he said.

**TTTTTT**

Back to the dueling field, Xiaomu looked at the few cards remaining in her hand, "Hmm… I think I'll just move right on into my battle phase…"

'_Huh?'_ Ace questioned as the Jin Long lifted up its bladed wings. '_Is she actually going to attack my Baboon? Whatever she's planning, she must want to use her Field Spell's effect whatever it is…_

'_But that doesn't mean I can't make this hurt!'_

"Jin Long! Attack her baboon!" Xiaomu commanded as the large, metallic dragon screeched loudly before it dashed across the field, both of its bladed wings being dragged along the ground to create a number of sparks.

"I dunno why you're so eager to attack, but I'm more than happy to oblige!" Ace announced as she pushed a button on her Duel Disk, allowing a ghostly mist to emerge around the Green Baboon's head. The mist began to solidify and formed into a pair of moose antlers that grafted themselves to the baboon's head, making the beast cry out in triumph (2600/1800 + 800/0). "Especially since I just outfitted my beast with Horn of the Phantom Beast! So not only will you take more damage, but when your Dragon bites the dust… I'll get to draw another card!"

Xiaomu didn't seem too worried as the large beast slammed its club into the charging dragon's body, crushing the metallic Monster into the ground with the sound of metal grinding into the ground. (XLP: 4700)

"And now, thanks to my Trap," Ace stated as she reached for her deck. "I get to draw…"

However, the moment that Ace placed her fingers atop of her deck, a loud beeping sound echoed from her Duel Disk and made her jump up. "W-What the?"

"Unfortunately, to use your Trap's second effect," Xiaomu sighed with a shake of her head as she held up Jin Long's card. "My Monster has to go to the Graveyard, but fortunately for me, my Field Spell takes that card underneath it instead."

"Crud…" Ace grumbled under her breath as she watched a fourth light begin to float around the Field Spell that warped the field. '_Yeesh, how many cards is she going to go through with this Field Spell?'_

"I shall end my turn by setting one Monster in Defense Mode," Xiaomu announced as the set Monster appeared before her. "And one set card, my turn shall be over with."

"I don't know what you're up to Chou Mei," Ace sighed as she pulled off the top card from her deck. "But no matter what ya do, I'm gonna win this!"

"Hmm, I look forward to seeing you try," Xiaomu growled with a small blood vessel appearing on the side of her head. "But more importantly… Get my name right!"

"Huh?" Ace questioned with a blush on her face. "Damn it, I thought I would've grown out of that habit… My bad."

Xiaomu rolled her eyes as at Ace as a cloud of smoke appeared on her field, revealing the Playful Possum appearing back on her field, crouching down (800/600). "But I won't be apologizing for what happens next, first thanks to its effect, my possum returns…

"And that's not the best part, I finally drew one of these! I play Mystical Space Typhoon!"

Ace immediately slipped the card into her Duel Disk, making a powerful surge of wind to fly through the air, "And you get three guesses what I'm going to destroy, and the first two don't count!

"I'll be bringing down this temple!"

The wind began to swirl and swept through the temple, making the dust fly up through the air and making all of the Monsters on the field stagger slightly from the powerful windstorm.

But…

Through all this, Xiaomu only smirked and watched as all four of the lights that were floating around the field spun around faster and scattered the wind. "Heh, not a bad draw… But its rather useless actually…"

Ace blinked a few times as the wind began to die down, and yet the temple managed to stay standing, "What the heck? What in the world is this?"

"Oh yeah, I should've mentioned my field's second effect," Xiaomu snickered with a large grin on her face. "When there are three or more dragons underneath it, my Field Spell cannot be toppled – Neither through destruction, nor by you activating another Field Spell. In fact it prevents you from activating Field Spells."

"… Well, that was a waste of a card," Ace thought to herself as she looked at the remaining cards in her hand. '_Not much else I can use… But that doesn't mean I can't fight back. I still have Baboon out on the field…_

'_But… I don't want to add more cards to her Field Spell… Who knows what else she'll get if I do… I could attack her face down Monster, but that's probably a Dragon too…'_

Ace slipped one of the three remaining cards from her hand and placed it onto her Duel Disk, making the card appear in front of her. "I'll just set a Monster face down, and end my turn!"

"Oh? Is that fear I see in your eyes?" Xiaomu questioned as she simply drew her next card and looked at the card she drew. A small glimmer of light sparkled in her eyes as she looked at the card and the other card she held. "Well, you should be… Because in this turn, I'll be doing something I haven't done in a long time…

"And that's bringing out my most powerful beasts! But first, I'll flip up my face down Monster – Reveal yourself Priestess of Orochi!"

The face down Monster flipped up and disappeared, and in its place was a young woman dressed in ceremonial white robes with her face covered with what appeared to be a skull of a dragon and a large staff in her hands (0/0). The woman fell to her knees when she looked around and saw the Temple of Orochi, tears falling down her face,

"Whoa, what's up with her?" Ace asked as she blinked a few times.

"She knows what's coming, Ace," Xiaomu stated as she held her hand up to her deck, catching a single card that popped out from her Duel Disk. "For you see, when she's flipped, I can add one Ritual Spell Card from my deck to my hand. I'll even show it to you…"

Xiaomu spun the card around in her hand and held it towards Ace, who in turn squinted to look at the card, "Uh… Dragon… Revival Ritual…

"Never heard of it."

"Well, after this, you'll never forget it," Xiaomu stated as she pushed a button on her Duel Disk. "But enough of what's to come, you'll see soon enough – For now, I'll play my Trap Card – Orochi's Wrath!"

Xiaomu's face down card flipped up and revealed another Trap Card that had a large, multi-headed dragon breathing fire on a large city. "Now thanks to this Trap, with my field, I can destroy one Dragon on the field. And since there's only one out, I apologize Mu Long, but I need to relinquish you…"

The wooden dragon turned back and nodded towards its master. However, the moment it turned back to the field, a powerful flame erupted on the wooden dragon's body, making its body crackle and snap until it shattered into a green light that floated around the temple. "And it goes under my temple. Then my Trap's second effect comes into play, allowing me to add one Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand."

"Great, does that mean we're going to meet Orochi now?" Ace questioned as another card popped out from Xiaomu's deck.

"Do you think I would be that predictable?" Xiaomu questioned as she held her hand up into the air, making all five of the lights that floated around her temple spin around quickly. "I activate my Field's final effect! When there are at least five dragons underneath it, I can destroy my Field Spell and all Monsters on my field! And of course, pay half of my Life Points!" (XLP: 2350)

A powerful flame engulfed the temple and the single Monster that was on her field, and almost as quickly as it came, the flames disappeared. The only things that were left on Xiaomu's field as the area began to return to being a forested location were the five multi-colored lights. "But, in return for my patience, my sacrifice and my field… All of the dragons that were placed underneath my Field Spell Card are instantly summoned back to the field!"

All five of the lights crashed into the ground in front of Xiaomu and immediately transformed back into the Luster Dragon (1900/1600), Houo Long (1200/1500), Mu Long (0/2400), Shui Long (1300/1100) and Jin Long (1600/1400). All five of the dragons roared loudly, proud to be back on the field once more, making even the Green Baboon stagger backwards.

"I see you got your dragons back," Ace growled as she held up her Duel Disk. "But that's not enough to stop me! Go ahead and Overlay them all if ya want!"

"How kind of you to offer," Xiaomu chuckled with a shake of her head. "But unfortunately, thanks to my Field Spell, my Dragons can't attack, use their effects, or be used in Xyz or Synchro summons the turn I used this effect, so it's useless…

"However… Ritual Summoning is another matter…"

"Oh yeah? Well bring it on!" Ace roared as she pumped her fist up. "There's no ritual Monster that I can't beat!"

"Your overconfidence in yourself is rather entertaining actually," Xiaomu stated as she spun around one of the remaining cards in her hand. "Very well, I shall show you what I can do – But don't show any regret when I do – I activate the Spell Card Dragon Revival Ritual!"

A large pentagram appeared beneath all five of Xiaomu's Monsters, black smoke slowly engulfing them all. "This ritual is a little different than others – Instead of offering Levels, I need to offer Monsters of different attributes…

"So, I'll offer my Fire Monster – Houo Long…"

From the dark smoke, a pillar of flames flew up into the air.

"Then my Water Monster – Shui Long…"

A torrent of water shot up from the smoke.

"Next, my Wind dragon – Luster Dragon…"

A twister of green air followed suit.

"Up now is the Earth attribute – Mu Long!"

Tons of rubble and roots were drawn up from the smoke.

"And finally, the Dark Monster – Jin Long!"

A large portion of the black smoke floated up along with the rest of the elements, when it did, all five of the elements began to converge with each other, growing larger and larger, even forcing a number of the trees in the area to be pushed away from the sheer size of the creature that was being created before the two duelists. "Prepare yourself Ace, I'm about to call forth one of the strongest Monsters in this entire game! Now… REVEAL YOURSELF!"

Xiaomu slapped the card onto her Duel Disk, and the moment she did, an extremely loud roar blasted through the air, making her two revealed Monsters stagger back quite a few feet. Even Ace herself felt a chill run down her spin as she noticed that five pairs of large eyes were now looming down at her, each with complete bloodlust dripping from them. As the Monster's body was finally solidifying, Ace saw what could best be described as a single beast that she had only seen in videos. '_Oh man… Jalal is not going to like this…'_

**TTTTTT**

Sarah was standing in front of Zanth, wearing special shackles on her arms, and her master was _not _pleased.

"I turn my back for one minute and you almost cause a disaster…" said the incredibly angry Blue Knight.

Sarah sighed. She could hardly help herself. It was what yuki-onna did… Using their beauty to lure humans into a cold embrace in order to freeze them solid… It was kind of an addiction they had…

"Uh… I'm sorry?" she said sadly.

"_Sorry?"_ asked Zanth. "You could have just ruined the boss's whole plan!

"Now listen, Sarah, I'm not overly fond of this idea either, and once this tournament is over, you can have all the victims you want."

He grabbed his servant by the cheeks.

"But until then, let's try to avoid causing any casualties… Because if we do, the boss will make sure that _we're _the next casualties!"

He let go of her.

"Don't forget… I summoned you, and it would take nothing more than a snap of my fingers to send you back where I got you from…"

Sarah shuddered. Where had he 'gotten her from'? From Hell, of course. She had just been another damned soul about to face the tortures that all such souls face-upon arriving. In fact, these shackles she was wearing right now were the same design as the ones that devils used to restrain souls while they were waiting to be led to the infernal devices. But she had been chosen completely at random when he had cast a spell to summon a dark familiar. She had been _very _lucky.

"Sarah" wasn't even her real name. Zanth called her that because it amused him to do so, and she didn't dare argue.

"It won't happen again!" she pleaded.

"I hope not…" growled Zanth.

She was about to ask him nicely to take off the shackles, but then she felt she had pushed her luck enough as it is. Best to wait until he had cooled off.

"All right…" said Zanth.

He looked at his money belt, where his winnings had already doubled by now.

"Time to find another opponent… Call me crazy, but I'm actually starting to like this game…"

**TTTTTT**

Back at the duel between Ace and Xiaomu, Ace looked with disbelief at the huge Monster.

It was a Dragon… An extremely large Dragon with a bipedal body covered with bronze scales and a pair of muscular arms and leathery wings. But, it head, er, _heads_ were another matter. There were five dragon heads that were attached to the main body, one seemed to be made out of pure flames, another was composed of black steel, one was an earthly color with spikes from its head, the next one was blue and had fins from its body, and the final was a black dragon head. All five of the dragons roared once more, shaking the very earth (5000/5000). "In my tongue, we refer to this creature as F.G.D. which means Five God Dragon… But, for you Americans and English folk, this card is known as Five-Headed Dragon!"

"B-But… I thought that it was a Fusion Monster…" Ace muttered as she looked at the mighty scaled beast that stood over her and Xiaomu.

"You can't always believe what you hear," Xiaomu laughed loudly as she crossed her arms. "Before this card became a Fusion Monster, it was a very powerful Ritual Monster – But it got junked when its practicality was called into question… But for five Monsters to do this, I think it's very fair…

"When called to the field, all of your cards on the field get blown away! Gone like the wind!"

With a mighty flap of its wings, the large Five-Headed Dragon unleashed a flurry of wind that sent every card on Ace's field flying up into the sky, and disappearing into the endless blue. Ace gulped but shook her head as she fitted all of the cards into her Graveyard, "Yeah? Well, here's a news flash! The face down card I had was Dummy Marker! And when destroyed, I get to pull another card from my deck in its place, so thanks!"

Ace drew from the top card from her deck as she looked to her Graveyard slot, '_Of course, that's not the only effect I've got.'_

"Big deal, of course," Xiaomu chuckled with a wag of her finger. "I should point out that my Dragon can't attack during the turn that I use its effect… But, I have a way around that right now…"

Xiaomu turned around the last card in her hand and slipped it into her Duel Disk. From the ground behind her, a large mirror emerged that didn't show her reflection, but rather five familiar dragons that were trying to get free from the reflective ornament, "I activate Dragon's Mirror!"

"Oh, crap…" Ace muttered under her breath as five cards slipped out of Xiaomu's Graveyard slot.

"I see you know what's coming," Xiaomu laughed as the mirror melted away into a dark shadow, the very same shadow that grew larger and flew into the air. "Yes! By banishing all five Dragons that I used to summon my creature with, shall be used to summon my Ritual Monster's only equal!"

A second ear-piercing roar blasted through the air as the shadows began to take a familiar shape…

"Man…" Ace muttered under her breath. "Jalal is gonna go ballistic…"

As the shadows dripped away from its body, a familiar five-headed Dragon stood alongside the original, in fact, it was like a carbon copy of the ritual dragon – five heads, one large body, one pair of leathery wings – The only difference was that this one seemed to cackle loudly, all five heads did (5000/5000), when it looked down at Ace. "Crap, crap, crap!"

"Wow, what a mouth on you," Xiaomu chuckled with a smile on her face. "But it's not as nasty as the ten looking back at you. Five of which don't have the same restriction as my original five."

"I've faced worse," Ace replied.

That was a lie.

Pure and simple, a lie.

"Impressive, well then, I hope you can handle this then!" Xiaomu roared loudly as she threw her hand up into the air. "Five-Headed Dragon! End this! Flames of the Final Fury!"

All five of the heads reeled back, and immediately unleashed its attack, which consisted of a regular flame breath, a twister of black air, yellow energy, a torrent of water, and a pitch black flame – All of which were heading straight towards Ace's side of the field.

All five of the attacks struck the ground at Ace's field, completely covering the tomboyish Shadowchaser with smoke.

"Yes! And that's game!" Xiaomu laughed loudly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "It was a fun little match, but in the end, I still won!"

"You sure about that?"

Xiaomu's eyes widened as the smoke began to disappear, and standing on her field was none other than Ace herself, a smirk on her face while she held up a single card in between two of her fingers. (ALP: 3400)

"Uh… What just happened?" Xiaomu questioned as she rubbed her eyes.

"Guess you were too much on a roll to notice what I was doing," Ace stated as she spun the card around in her fingers. "The face down Monster you destroyed with your first Dragon's effect was Mogumole, and while you were busy gloating I was able to use his effect…

"Which allows me to Special Summon him back to the field in face-up Defense Mode, he was just hiding underground until your attack hit him instead of me."

"Hmm, not a bad defense," Xiaomu admitted. "But it's all for naught, I've got two powerful Monsters on my field, each with five thousand attack points and both of them with the same effect – They can't be destroyed by Monsters other than Light."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," Ace sighed as she waved her hand up in the air. "Since you've got nothing else in your hand, and you used up everything to summon those two big buffoons, I'm guessing that it's my turn?"

"Yes," Xiaomu replied with a wild smirk on her face. "So, what Beast will you draw to save you this time?"

"I don't need to draw," Ace replied as a small flame flickered in front of her. "I've got everything I need in my hand and Graveyard! Reveal yourself, Flame Tiger!"

The flame grew larger until an orange tiger leapt out of the flames, its body flickering with flames that covered its legs and lower body (1800/0). "Since I don't have any Monsters on the field, I can Special Summon this card instead of drawing. Next, I'll summon Giant Rat in Attack Mode!"

The ground next to the Flame Tiger began to open up, allowing an incredibly large blue rodent to scurry out from the ground, its blue fur covered with dirt (1400/1450). That's when a bright light began to emerge from Ace's Graveyard slot, "And I'm not done yet! Not by a long shot! From my Graveyard, I can Special Summon a familiar face!"

Several chains fell from the sky and crashed into the ground, and immediately a familiar dog began to crawl from the ground, fitting itself into the chains (1600/1100), "Chain Dog returns! And before you say anything, he wasn't banished because he was used as an Overlay Unit for my Sumo King Dog, meaning I can use his effect again…"

"Three Level four Monsters," Xiaomu mumbled under her breath. "I see, are you hoping to do another Xyz Summon?"

"I'm not hoping," Ace replied as a powerful vortex opened up into the ground in front of her. "I am! I Overlay all three of my Monsters once more!"

All three of her Monsters transformed into streams of light that flew through the air before they were drawn into the vortex. A second passed before it exploded in a powerful burst of light. "From the arduous training you've had to endure – Arise, Centiflora Sword Mistress!"

The light immediately warped, forming into a sleek, yet small figure that stood in front of Ace. The light began to pull away revealing a young lass dressed in fancy, rose red clothing that had a hint of Eastern origin to them, yet was obviously loose enough on her slim frame to grant her mobility. The girl had short, aqua green colored hair that was topped with a rose red cap with two white belts attached to it, and a pair of long, floppy ears. A long, feline-like tail waved behind the girl as she held up a sheathed katana. The girl winked with a few sparkles popping around (2300/2000).

"Well, I wasn't expecting that," Xiaomu stated with a flat look in her eyes. "But what is that supposed to do?"

Three bright lights began to float around Centiflora's body; however, one of the lights quickly flew into the sheathed katana, making the sword mistress draw her glowing sword. "Let me show ya, first, I'll use her effect! Centiflora! Dimensional Swordsmanship!"

With a quick slash of her katana, the sword mistress seemed to cut nothing but air… But slowly, a rift began to open up in the air, revealing another dimension that was drawing in a large amount of air, and the fusion version of the Five-Headed Dragon. At first, the dragon didn't seem to budge, but soon it was quickly pulled into the growing vortex, and both disappeared in the air.

Xiaomu's eyes widened, "W-What the!? My dragon!"

"Relax," Ace sighed as Centiflora sheathed her sword. "Your Dragon will be back at the end of the turn. Centiflora can use one of her Overlay Units to banish one card on the field until the end of the turn. But… I think you should be more worried about your other Dragon – She's about to topple him!"

"Oh? Can Centiflora use that effect again?" Xiaomu questioned with a sly look on her face.

"Not this turn," Ace admitted as she spun around one of the remaining two cards in her hand. "But it doesn't matter, I activate a Quickplay Spell – Boundary's Reign!"

The Spell Card appeared on the field, and a bright silver aura covered over Centiflora's body, making her entire body spark with silver energy. "This card can only be activated when a Monster is banished, and I can activate one of two effects… Of course, since one Monster was banished, I can only use one of them right now.

"So, I'll go with the first effect!"

Suddenly, all of the rose red clothing that Centiflora was wearing changed color to a bright glowing silver (2300/2000 + 5000/0). "She gains attack equal to the attack of one of the banished Monsters! So thanks for the five thousand point bonus!"

Xiaomu's eyes widened at the powerful Monster that now stood before her and her dragon, "T-That's…"

"Kick-ass, I know," Ace chuckled as she dangled the last card in her hand in front of her. "And I'm not even done yet, I got one more card to play – I activate my own Field Spell, Forest!"

All of a sudden, the lush forest all around the two duelists began to become much more lush and full of life, and while the effects were minimal, they were still there for Centiflora (7300/2000 + 200/200). "Now, for the big finale! Centiflora! Go for it!"

The empowered sword mistress drew her sword once more, and cut the air in front of her. Only this time, the rift appeared before her and drew her in, closing immediately!

"Now you don't see her, now ya do!" Ace shouted as she pointed upwards.

Both Xiaomu and the remaining Five-Headed Dragon looked up into the air just in time to see a second rift open up into the air over the Five Headed Dragon, and from the rift fell Centiflora with her sword held above her head. All five of the dragon heads lunged towards the falling sword mistress, but every time they aimed to hit her, the sword mistress dodged out of the way.

It wasn't long until Centiflora landed on the ground in front of the Five Headed Dragon, slowly sheathing her sword as the dragon began to lower its head to finish the job the mistress had apparently failed to do.

But the moment that Centiflora completely sheathed her sword with a loud click, the dragon stopped dead in its tracks as several cuts of silver energy surged over the dragon's entire body. The dragon roared loudly in pain before its entire body shattered like glass and flew down around Xiaomu's body. "AAAAAAAH!" (XLP: 0)

"And what a finale that was," Ace replied with a wide grin on her face as she held her hand up to show a peace sign. "I rock!"

Xiaomu could only sigh at her opponent's enthusiasm.

**TTTTTTTT**

Ace held her hand out to Xiaomu, "For what it's worth, that was one helluva duel… I haven't had a ride like that since the last time I did a riding duel on the highway of Las Vegas!"

"Yes, it was quite a good duel," Xiaomu laughed back as she took Ace's hand and shook it. "I'm surprised that you managed to best both of my Dragons – It's not an easy card combo to overcome."

"And… I guess…" Ace mumbled as she took back her hand, a small blush on her face as she rubbed the back of her head. "I… I'm sorry… I didn't know you were in the tree when I kicked it…"

"Don't worry about it," Xiaomu chuckled as she reached into her deck slot and pulled out the Euros she had. "That duel more than made up for that, and here ya go, the amount I owe you. One thousand, so congrats."

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Ace muttered as she took the euros from the Chinese dressed duelist. "Hope ya make it to the finals."

"Same to you," Xiaomu replied as she began to walk back to the very tree that she had fallen out of earlier. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go catch up on some interrupted sleep."

Ace merely blinked as she watched Xiaomu quickly jump up and disappear among the branches of the tree, "Wow… That was kinda weird…"

But just like that, Ace shrugged it off and began to walk away… "Now then, who's next?"

TBC

**TTTTTTTTTT**

**Card Stats**

**Dragon Revival Ritual / Ritual Spell / Effect:** This card is used to Ritual Summon 'Five-Headed Dragon'. You must also Tribute 1 DARK, EARTH, FIRE, WATER, and WIND Monster on the field or your hand. **  
Image:** A pentagram with several black bolts of electricity surging around it.

**Five-Headed Dragon / Dark / LV. 12 / ATK: 5000 / DEF: 5000 / Dragon/Ritual/Effect:** This card can only be Ritual Summoned with 'Dragon Revival Ritual'. When this card is Ritual Summoned, destroy all cards your opponent controls. This card cannot attack during the same turn it is Ritual Summoned. This card cannot be destroyed by battle with an EARTH, WATER, FIRE, WIND or DARK Monster.**  
Description:** An extremely large dragon with a bipedal body covered with bronze scales and a pair of muscular arms and leathery wings. But, it head, er, heads were another matter. There were five dragon heads that were attached to the main body, one seemed to be made out of pure flames, another was composed of black steel, one was an earthly color with spikes from its head, the next one was blue and had fins from its body, and the final was a black dragon head  
_The preceding two cards were used by the Big Five in the original anime._

**Dummy Marker / Trap / Effect:** When this Set card is destroyed, draw 1 card. If this Set card was destroyed by the effect of an opponent's Spell Card, draw 1 additional card. **  
Image:** An explorer setting a fake marker in a cave.  
_Yuki Judai used this card in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime_

**Mogumole / Earth / LV. 2 / ATK: 800 / DEF: 800 / Beast/Effect:** When this card on the field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon this card in face-up Defense Position. Each player can only activate the effect of 'Mogumole' once per Duel.**  
Description:** A cute little goggled mole with a large drill in its hands.  
_This card appears in Abyss Rising._

**Cat Girl / Earth / LV. 4 / ATK: 1200 / DEF: 1600 / Beast/Effect:** Once during each of your opponent's turns, when an opponent's Monster declares an attack: You can negate that attack.**  
Description:** A cute young girl dressed in orange and brown furred suit with claws, tail and ears atop of her head.  
_This card was used by Cat-Chan in Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal_

**Sumo King Dog / Earth / Rank 4 / ATK: 2600 / DEF: 2100 / Beast/Xyz/Effect:** [3 Level 4 Monsters] When your opponent activates a Trap Card: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; negate that card's activation and effect, and destroy that card.**  
Description:** a large black, armored Doberman with steel red cloth around its body and white rope around its collar  
_This card was used by Dog-Chan in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Anime_

**Centiflora Sword Mistress / Light / Rank 4 / ATK: 2300 / DEF: 2000 / Beast-Warrior/Xyz/Effect:** [3 Level 4 Beast-Type Monsters] While this card is on the field or in the Graveyard, treat this Monster as a Beast-Type Monster. Once per turn (during either player's turn), by detaching one Xyz Material from this card, you may select and banish 1 card on the field (during the End Phase that this effect was used, return the banished card back to its owner's field). Once per turn, when this card has no Xyz Materials, you may banish this card (during the End Phase that this effect was used, Special Summon this card to your side of the field).**  
Description:** a young lass dressed in fancy, rose red clothing that had a hint of Eastern origin to them, yet was obviously loose enough on her slim frame to grant her mobility. The girl had short, aqua green colored hair that was topped with a rose red cap with two white belts attached to it, and a pair of long, floppy ears. A long, feline-like tail waved behind the girl as she held up a sheathed katana

**Boundary's Reign / Quick-Play Spell / Effect:** This card can only be activated when one or more Monster(s) is banished. Select and activate one of the following effects:  
-) Select one face-up Monster on the field, increase its ATK by the ATK of one of the banished Monsters' ATK until the End Phase.  
-) For every 2 Monsters banished, draw 1 card.**  
Image:** The Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning fighting against the Chaos Emperor Dragon

**Temple of the Orochi Dragons / Field Spell / Effect:** Once per turn, whenever a Dragon-Type Monster(s) on your side of the field is banished or destroyed by battle, you may place 1 of the banished/destroyed cards under this card. This card gains the following effects depending on the number of cards placed under it:  
1 or more) Increase the ATK and DEF of all face-up Dragon-Type Monsters on your side of the field by 400.  
3 or more) This card cannot be destroyed by card effects and your opponent cannot play Field Spell Cards.  
5 or more) During your Main Phase, by banishing this card and paying half of your Life Points, destroy all Monsters on your side of the field. Then you may Special Summon up to 5 Monsters that were placed under this card. Monsters Special Summoned with this effect cannot attack, cannot use their effects, cannot be used for Synchro or Xyz Summons during the turn this effect is activated. **  
Image:** A large temple surrounded by wooden statues that resembled that of oriental dragons that each seemed to be looking at a large clay vase rising out from the ground, on the vase were a number of dragon murals that were from a number of different cultures

**Offerings to Orochi / Trap / Effect:** This card can only be activated while 'Temple of the Orochi Dragons' is on the field while you have 3 or more Dragon-Type Monsters on your side of the field. Select and place one Level 4 Dragon-Type Monster from your deck under 'Temple of the Orochi Dragons'**  
Image:** a Lady of D surrounded by several Chinese Dragons that coiled around her body

**Priestess of Orochi / Dark / LV. 1 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 0 / Spellcaster/Effect:** [Flip] Add one Ritual Spell Card from your deck to your hand. **  
Image:** a young woman dressed in ceremonial white robes with her face covered with what appeared to be a skull of a dragon and a large staff in her hands

**Orochi's Wrath / Trap / Effect:** This card can only be activated while there is a face-up 'Temple of the Orochi'. Destroy 1 face-up Dragon-Type Monster on the field and place it underneath 'Temple of the Orochi'. Then add one Ritual Monster from your deck to your hand.**  
Image:** a large, multi-headed dragon breathing fire on a large city

**Mu Long / Earth / LV. 6 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 2400 / Dragon/Effect:** When your opponent Special Summons a Monster, by discarding Dragon-Type Monsters from your hand whose combined Levels equal 6 or more, you can Special Summon this card from your hand or Graveyard. As long as this card is face-up on the field, other Level 7 or higher Special Summoned Monsters cannot activate their effects.**  
Description:** a Chinese dragon made entirely out of wood and dirt, with the main body still inside the ground

**Houo Long / Fire / LV. 4 / ATK: 1200 / DEF: 1500 / Dragon/Effect:** When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a Dragon-Type Monster, you may select 1 Monster card on the field and destroy it. **  
Description:** a long, flame covered serpentine dragon that had an emblem on its head that had the Chinese character for Fire embedded in it

**Shui Long / Water / LV. 3 / ATK: 1300 / DEF: 1100 / Dragon/Effect:** When this card is removed from the field, you may Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Dragon with 1500 or less ATK from your deck.**  
Description:** a large serpentine dragon with blue fish scales with many long fins atop of its body

**Jin Long / Dark / LV. 4 / ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1400 / Dragon/Effect:** While this card is in your hand, you may select 1 face-up Dragon-Type Monster on your field and return it to your deck. After this effect resolves, you may Special Summon this card from your hand. **  
Description:** a sleek bi-pedal dragon completely covered with gleaming steel with blades at the ends of its arms to resemble that of a pair of wings

**0000000000**

_**Next:**_

_**Nichole: Being a member of ONE organization that has its roots in Shadowkind is hard enough… Two at once, trust me, it's not for amateurs. **_

_**The way this tournament was set up is a godsend. I get to fulfill my duties as both a Shadowchaser and a member of St. Cuthbert's House simultaneously, something I almost never get to do. And I'm taking it seriously…**_

_**Trouble is, I'm having the same trouble Ace had… Finding an opponent… **_

_**Wait… Maybe I spoke too soon…**_

"_**Prideful Roar" is coming soon.**_


End file.
